


Under Pressure

by ParvumAutomaton



Category: Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Cartoon 2018)
Genre: Cave diving, Drowning, Ear injury, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, OC death, Rescue, dead bodies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-13
Updated: 2021-03-12
Packaged: 2021-03-12 19:21:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 21,560
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29389758
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ParvumAutomaton/pseuds/ParvumAutomaton
Summary: Cave diving is a hobby with a litany of associated risks. So when the boys receive a call from April’s mom telling them that she hasn’t come home, they jump into action. Fearing the worst but hoping for the best, they will do whatever it takes to save her.However, things do not always go according to plan. And missed opportunities or small mistakes can take root and grow into crushing guilt that is both isolating and impossible to handle alone.
Comments: 17
Kudos: 48





	1. Preparation

**Author's Note:**

> This story will be told in four parts, each with a different focus character, Donnie, Leo, April, and Raph.
> 
> Also note the OC’s in this story are all named after tmnt 2k3 characters directly or their voice actors, but are not meant to be those characters. Bonus non-binding internet points if you recognize them.

“— conversing — Donatello ”

Donnie mumbled as he pulled his phone from it’s charging dock to his ear.

The phone rang again. Donnie cracked open his eyes. This time he successfully hit the answer button and before speaking into the phone.

“You are conversing with Donatello.”

“You know April, right?” The voice on the other end of the line asked. “You’re one of her gamer friends?”

Donnie blinked. The voice sounded familiar but that didn’t help him at the unholy hour where way too late morphed into way too early.

“And you are?”

“Her mother. Please, did she spend the night at your place?”

“No, she did not,” Donnie answered, forcing himself upright, his exhaustion evaporating with that question. “I believe she was planning on some extracurricular club activity yesterday afternoon. So we weren’t planning on seeing her.”

“I don’t suppose you know which club?”

“No, I do not.”

“Ok,” The waver Donnie heard in her voice implied that it wasn’t. “You will let me know if April gets in touch?”

“Of course Ms. O’Neil.”

The call ended.

Donnie stared at his phone. 

Even though no panic buttons had gone off, returning to sleep was completely out of the question. Besides it wasn’t often he got an opportunity to check his brothers' responses to his emergency alerts. At least not an opportunity that didn’t risk prank retribution the next night. 

Donnie triggered the alert. He slipped into his gear, gauntlet, goggles, and spider-shell before grabbing his bo and racing into the atrium.

“Ok,” Leo’s voice rang out, “who annoyed Donnie last night?”

“Leo, we all know it was probably you.” Raph answered flatly.

“I would never.”

“Really?” Mikey questioned.

Donnie took stock of his brothers. They were all standing in the atrium, relaxed and smiling as they joked.

They also were also all wearing their gear. Mikey and Raph both had their ninpo weapons strapped to their belts, and Leo had both katana sheathed on his shell.

“Do you honestly think I’d use the emergency alert for something so petty?” Donnie quipped. He could feel the judgement from all three pairs of eyes. “The situation is that I just received a call from Ms. O’Neil. She hasn’t seen April.”

Raph clapped his hands together. “Mad Dogs to the turtle tank.”

Mikey and Raph raced toward the garage. Leo hesitated slightly, staying near Donnie.

“Do we have an idea where to start?” He asked.

“You mean, do I have an idea?” Donnie responded. “Yes I have already started the process to locate her cell phone.”

* * *

By the time they exited the turtle tank grey pre-dawn light illuminated the neighborhood park. Mist rose off the small lake encircled by walking paths, giving the entire area an ethereal feel. The only thing that broke that mood was a large old white van parked nearby with a bright yellow parking boot on its front wheel. 

Donnie knew the rising sun would soon burn off the mist, making their search easier. He also knew that they couldn’t wait. The lack of mist would reveal them to passing humans. But far more importantly, and in this moment the only thing that mattered to Donnie, was that the longer they waited the longer April could be in danger.

Fortunately this was no central park and there were not that many potential places to search. 

“Are you sure she’s here?” Raph asked.

“One hundred percent,” Donnie answered. “I know how to track a phone.”

“Alright Mad Dogs, let's split up. Leo, Donnie go left, Mikey you’re with me going right. We’ll meet at the other side of the lake. One of our groups will find April along the way.”

“Actually Raph,” Leo cut in, “We may want to search in the lake.”

They all looked at Leo. Mikey found his voice first.

“Why would you suggest something so pessimistic?”

Leo flicked on his phone flashlight and pointed it at the rear bumper of the white van. It illuminated a red bumper sticker with a white diagonal line through it and the silhouette of a fully decked out diver in black. He walked towards the van and pressed his phone’s light against the window. Hanging wetsuits could be seen by the faint light of his phone.

“Right,” Raph said. “I’ll search in the lake. Donnie, search the van. Leo and Mikey, split up and circle the lake.” 

Donnie spared only a second to confirm that Leo had no more objections before turning his attention to the van. He was glad that Raph wasn’t watching him as he removed the van’s antenna and inserted into the door handle. 

With a few jiggles of the handle the door popped open. Donnie replaced the antenna, and for all Raph had to know this was just another New York city car that the owner had conveniently left unlocked. 

Leo would know what he did. But the only question Leo would ask, would be how long it took to open. He'd then remind Donnie that he did it faster. And Donnie would remind him that he only did it faster because of his odachi, and he couldn’t achieve the same effect using his twin katana teleportation.

And, like all of the other cars that he or Leo had gotten open, this vehicle was a treasure trove of information. There were seven hanging wetsuits on a rack, and seven sets of masks, regulators, headlamps, fins, and gloves. On the floor of the van there were five folded towels. In the back there were twelve open cubbies. Ten were empty and two contained a scuba tank. 

Also within the van were fourteen small closed and locked cubbies.

They shouldn’t be hard to open. He just needed some time. And the lockpicks he kept in his battle shell.

“Hey D,” Raph’s voice carried into the open van. Donnie popped his head out to see Raph waving from the center of the lake. “I found a rope that leads into a hole, but I can’t fit.”

“Leon’s on it!”

Despite not being able to see Leo in the mist, he could hear his brother’s smug grin easily. Donnie waited a moment to ensure that Leo did indeed meet up with Raph, and enter the hole, before turning his attention back to the locked cubbies.

It only took Donnie a few minutes to open the first one. It was filled with what appeared, at first glance, to be digital watches. But Donnie knew better. Closer inspection revealed that all seven ‘watches’ were in fact dive computers. They recorded the depth and time of a dive, and then calculated a safe decompression profile. It was yet another instance of the overwhelming evidence that he had broken into a scuba diver’s van. 

Which was going to lead to a lot of awkward questions if April was not, in fact, scuba diving.

But if she was diving, her phone would most likely be in one of the cubbies, of which thirteen were still locked.

So Donnie set off down the line. The next cubby he opened was empty. And the one after that he was interrupted, four pins deep, by a tentative knock on the side of the van.

Donnie turned, one arm of his spider shell holding his lock picks in place.

He saw Mikey outside of the van, clutching Leo’s katanas in his hands. 

“We didn’t see anything along the path,” Mikey said, “I hope you’ve had better luck?”

“Not yet.”

Mikey sighed and hesitantly leaned both swords against the outside of the van. “He’s been down there a while. Do you think Leo’s ok?”

“I’m sure he’s fine,” Donnie answered quickly. The ten minutes Leo had been underwater might have been close to Mikey’s limit. But Leo could routinely go thirty minutes between breaths, at least during the rare occasions when he wasn’t talking. “What I’m far more curious about is how deep this means that hole is. New York city isn’t known for its cave formations.”

“It’s also not known for the Mystic Hidden City, but it’s still there.”

“You have a point Miguel. Perhaps it opened during one of the Shredder events, or Big Mama’s Battle Nexus New York— ”

“So April could be in the hidden city?”

“Perhaps. We’ll know for sure once Leo surfaces. Until then, keep watch just in case someone comes by and wants to know why we’re breaking into this van.”

Donnie returned his attention to the cubby he was opening. He made short work of the rest of the lock. However this cubby, like the one before it, was empty.

Donnie sighed and moved on to the next cubby. Despite having practice with the locks, the impatient stare from Mikey made this one feel like it took much longer. But it still popped open.

On the bright side this cubby wasn’t empty. However it did not contain anything of April’s. Donnie knew because he meticulously sorted through the phone, keys, wallet, and other odds and ends that were located in it. He then gave the contents to Mikey for him to double check while Donnie set to work opening the next one.

After another few minutes of work Donnie knew that he had found a significant lead. The large red framed glasses were a dead giveaway. And the phone in the cat case sealed the deal.

Donnie grabbed the phone and leaned out of the van. 

However his excitement evaporated as he saw Raph still holding position over the hole. Leo was still, presumably, under the water.

They’d been searching for almost twenty minutes. Leo had held his breath longer than this, but he was well past his halfway mark. However it wasn’t Leo that worried Donnie. 

It was April.

If she was down there scuba diving, the tank would give her an hour maybe an hour and a half. And if Donnie factored in when her mother called with how long she probably waited before calling, and how long they had been searching— 

There was only one question whose answer mattered.

_ When did she go in? _

If—

If—

Donnie’s hands shook as unlocked her phone, thankful that she hadn’t changed her password since he installed the Donnie blocker on her phone. 

Honestly, he had expected her to. Perhaps it was the fact that that blocker had helped save her school, and her classmates, from disappearing that had changed her mind.

There were dozens of missed messages pinging, trying to get his attention. And the time that they went back to, caused a knot to form in Donnie’s stomach.

But maybe she locked her phone here early. Maybe the plan was an early morning dive and she was going to run into Leo on her way back, giving them all hell for ruining her her nice normal day.

But she’d never leave her mom hanging like that. She’d never leave them hanging like that.

Still Donnie checked her calendar. There were no dives scheduled, early morning or otherwise, there. 

Donnie switched apps. He pulled up her text history. And after scrolling past the unread messages from ‘mom’, ‘dad’, and all the ones his brothers had sent Donnie found a read one.

It was from ‘Darius scuba club’ inviting her on a dive. He was selling her on the ‘exciting tunnel’, the ‘awesome ballroom’, and a ‘sweet cave’ with an air pocket that would allow them to rest a bit before returning. 

He assured her that he’d done this dive half a dozen times before.

She accepted.

An air pocket gave them time. It meant that they weren’t already too late when they received the call from April’s mom. But it also raised a horrifying possibility. If something went wrong, if she was trapped without any air in her tanks. Sure they could reach her but that didn’t mean that they could get her out. 

She wasn’t like them. She couldn’t hold her breath for Mikey’s fifteen minutes much less his own two hours. Donnie didn’t know how—

The tanks. He could grab the spare tanks from the van and bring them down. He could reach her in a single breath. And then she and her dive partner Darius could both have full tanks to swim out.

Donnie raced around to the back of the van. He gave a sigh of relief when he saw that both tanks were full. 

He grabbed both tanks and raced towards the water’s edge before pausing. Raph was still standing guard over the hole. So Leo was still down there. If Donnie went before Leo came back. He could block Leo’s exit.

And Leo’s thirty minutes were almost up. 

If only Raph wasn’t too big to fit. The hour that he could hold his breath would make Donnie feel a lot better about the time spent.

Although even if he fit through the initial hole that didn’t mean that the tunnel wouldn’t narrow. That he wouldn’t get caught in its twists and turns. 

Leo was much more streamline. He was almost as streamline as the humans that Donnie knew could traverse the tunnels.

Almost—

Donnie scanned the water around Raph. It was completely calm. No rising bubbles, no sign of Leo at all.

Leo should be getting close, The slow bubbles of his long exhale should be reaching the surface. At least if he wanted to make it out before blacking out.

An unbidden image flashed before Donnie’s eyes. Leo, wedged into an area a human could easily pass, the dome of his shell pressed into unyielding rock. Unable to move forward, unable to retreat. He’d suffocate, trapped far from help.

There were still no bubbles near Raph.

Donnie raced forward, ignoring the cold water lapping at his calves. He should have answered Raph’s call. He should have been the one to enter the tunnel. He could hold his breath four times as long as Leo. His shell had a much lower profile than Leo’s and he wouldn’t miss the signs of rocks scraping against it, warning him he was about to get squeezed in. 

“Donnie! Raph!”

Raph’s head shot up, and Donnie followed his gaze towards Mikey’s voice. Towards the van. 

Mikey was waving at them with one arm. His other arm was wrapped around a shivering Leo.

Leo waved them back in with a jerky motion, one of his sheathed katana still clutched in his hand.

Raph obliged. Donnie followed soon after.

Leo had the best information about what he would be getting into. Donnie had to approach this rescue calmly. That would give April her best shot. After all if Donnie got stuck on a turn Leo could warn him about, it would make the entire rescue that much harder.

By the time they reached the van, Mikey had started it. Leo sat in the front seat, wrapped in a towel with the vents blowing hot air over him.

Donnie left both tanks by Leo’s swords and entered the back of the van. He kept the door open so that Raph could lean his head in as well.

“Did you see anything?” Donnie asked.

Leo shook his head. “It’s pitch black down there.”

“And cold?” Mikey asked.

“Just a little.” Leo answered.

“Did you come across anything that could be described as a ballroom, or a chamber?” Donnie pressed.

“I didn’t, It was pretty tight the entire time.”

“You should have at least reached the ballroom.” Donnie said, pulling up the conversation with Darius on April’s phone. “Are you sure you followed the rope?”

“Never took my hand off the rope.” Leo responded. “But I was swimming pretty blind so I might not have been making the best time.”

“Right.” Donnie turned away from Leo and towards the hanging wetsuits. 

They would fit well enough and help combat the cold water. And while the fins, gloves, and masks would not fit him at all, the headlamp would. The suit would combat the cold and the headlamp would combat the dark. Donnie should have realized they were needed earlier, but at least Leo has done his part in making sure this dive had the highest chance of success.

Donnie had only managed to get one leg into the wetsuit when Leo shrugged off his towel and clambered into the back of the van.

“What are you doing?” Donnie asked as Leo grabbed a still hanging wetsuit.

“I’m not letting you go in alone.”

“We have two tanks and two missing divers, who are presumably holed up in an air pocket about thirty to forty minutes out.” Donnie said slowly. “For the best chance of rescue we need both of these tanks to be full when we reach them. Leo, I can get there, give them the tanks, and get them out without needing to use any air.”

“Donnie, I don’t want you doing that dive alone. If something goes wrong, if— I—”

Leo’s hand gripped Donnie’s wrist. Donnie met his eyes. It was rare to see Leo so intense, so serious.

And Donnie knew that he should argue. He knew that he was better suited to make the rescue. He knew he would be the safest of his brothers during this attempt. 

But he was selfish.

The thought of being alone. Trapped in a small dark place, slowly suffocating while his brothers waited obliviously on the surface.

Besides if a human needed half a tank of air to get to the air pocket, Leo would need far less. No more than a tenth of the tank round trip. Which would leave plenty for April’s diving buddy to use getting out.

“Alright.” Donnie said, removing his hand from Leo’s, “let me show you how to use their dive computer.”

“Computer?” Leo questioned as Donnie pulled two of the watch like devices from the cubby. “How much tech do we need to go for a swim?”

Donnie looked over the displays for depth tracking and assent rates and decompression profiles. If one didn’t know what they were looking for the display was overwhelming. 

“Honestly, not this much,” He said, they were only diving into a new york city lake after all. “The biggest things are, one, I’m confident in its waterproofing and two, it’ll let you keep track of time.”

Donnie tapped the large numbers in the center of the screen. 

“Let me guess, we have to be back by midnight? Or the turtle tank turns into a pumpkin?”

Donnie rolled his eyes, hiding the fact that Leo cracking jokes made him feel like he could breathe again.

“There is a gage on the air tank, just keep track of the rate you use it ok?”

Leo flashed Donnie two thumbs up. And the two of them quickly donned the purloined wetsuits, headlamps, and dive computers. Donnie finished slightly after Leo due to the fact that he had to remove his own tech first.

Once finished they both left the van. Donnie connected regulators to their air tanks, while Leo messed with his gear. He fashioned a belt out of his straps and connected one of his sheathed swords to it. The other sword he left leaning against the van. 

Donnie handed Leo his air tank while he was adjusting the way his sword sat on his hip.

“Ready?” Donnie asked.

“Just one more question,” Leo said, holding up the regulator. “How do I breathe through this?”

“Put this part in your mouth and breathe in whenever you would naturally want to, don’t try to hold your breath,” Donnie answered. He paused a second, looking at Leo’s tight shoulder and jerky nod. “Also remember to breath in through your mouth, not your nose.”

“Gee D, I never would have figured that part out.”

Donnie laughed. 

Leo grumbled, but his shoulders relaxed.

They both gave Raph and Mikey a wave before taking a deep breath and diving beneath the surface of the lake. 

Leo led the way to the hole entrance. But once he showed Donnie the location of the neon yellow rope, Donnie took point. 

The initial descent was only slightly narrower than the bottom hatch on the turtle tank. Which was too narrow for Raph, but posed no serious risk to either him or Leo, and still allowed light to filter past them, illuminating the bottom of the hole.

The rope, however, did not reach the bottom of the hole. Instead it seemed to disappear into the side of the hole. The tunnel that it went down was hidden from view until Donnie was at eye level with it.

Donnie continued to follow the rope, and very quickly realized why Leo had to take the tunnel so slowly. As he swam it quickly went from dim to dark to pitch black. 

He paused, reaching up to switch on his headlamp. Leo tapped on his foot twice. Donnie flashed him a thumbs up. He saw the shadow from the sign in the light of Leo’s headlamp.

Donnie pressed forward. The walls of the cave were sheared, all smooth walls and sharp edges. This wasn’t caused by erosion. In fact, the best Donnie could tell, there wasn't much erosion at all. So these caves were most likely recent. Perhaps formed by a several hundred year old demon samurai rampage. Although it would be impossible to say if it was when the Shredder was feral, or under Big Mama’s control, or acting of his own free will.

Of course if this tunnel was created in a Shredder fight...

And April was...

Then—

Leo tapped Donnie’s leg twice.

Donnie flashed a thumbs up at Leo.

All he could do now was keep moving forward.

The tunnel was not a straight shot. It veered left and right, up and down, never travelling too long in any one direction. At each corner Donnie slowed down. He checked the rope before preceding. Then, careful of the jagged edges, he proceeded around the bend. 

Each direction change was succeeded by a straight shot. Donnie would get two turtle lengths in before stopping. 

His stomach twisted as he waited for the two taps from Leo.

The taps always came.

And Donnie continued swimming.

The predictability of the rhythm was relaxing. And the constant question of the optimal strategy to maneuver through each twist kept Donnie from getting bored. 

If not for the reason that they entered the tunnels, Donnie would have said that he enjoyed the adventure. However, as it was, Donnie was just waiting for something to go wrong. 

And go wrong it did.

Donnie was following the tunnel as it angled slightly upward. The section he was in was wider than most but ahead he could see it narrowed dramatically. The rope seemed to disappear down and the entire tunnel was obstructed with something black and silver. 

It was a squeeze to even reach the obstruction. And once there Donnie had almost no leverage. Try as he might, there was no angle that he could pull the obstruction from.

He then braced his feet against the tunnel walls and pushed. However despite the obstruction leaving a mesh pattern pressed onto his palms, it didn’t bulge.

Donnie moved backwards. It only took one light tap of Donnie’s foot on Leo's face for Leo to get the message and move backwards to give Donnie room. 

With the increased distance, Donnie began assessing the tunnel for any means of leverage that he had missed. 

Leo, however, was less patient than Donnie. He grabbed his brother’s legs and pulled him back into the widest section of the tunnel. Before Donnie realised what was happening, Leo was inching forward past him.

Once Leo had pulled ahead of him, Leo took a deep breath from his tank before handing it, and his sword to Donnie.

Leo continued forward, wedging himself into the narrowing tunnel. Both of Leo’s feet were planted on opposite sides of the tunnel, and the dome of his shell was pressed into the roof.

Leo pushed himself forward. However his hand did not push on the obstruction but rather went under it, pressing his forearm between the obstruction and a corner of the tunnel. 

A stream of bubbles left Leo’s nose. Something dark swirled around Leo’s arm. But still Leo pressed forward, his entire body shaking from the effort.

That wasn’t good in this type of environment.

Donnie reached forward to grab Leo, but before he could make contact he saw a flash of blue light.

Leo disappeared.

The obstruction disappeared.

And Donnie was left alone.

He instantly turned to stare at the sword Leo had left with him. But no Leo materialized there.

But that made sense, Donnie assured himself. Leo had to remove that obstruction from the tunnel, otherwise they risked it floating back into that corner and blocking their way out. Which would explain why April and her Dive buddy had to retreat back to the air pocket.

Donnie waited for Leo to reappear. He could feel the seconds tick by deep within his gut. 

But no Leo.

Leo wouldn’t leave him, would he?

Of course he wouldn’t. It must be a physical limitation. Leo needed room to teleport and as cramped as he currently was, Leo must not be able to get a good angle to get back. 

However they both knew that a large chamber was ahead of them. So it only made sense that Leo would wait until Donnie reached that chamber to teleport. There would be more room. 

Donnie strapped Leo’s sword to his waist and looped Leo’s tank over his shoulder. He continued forward.

The tunnel and the rope angled sharply downwards. Donnie followed them, absently noting the dark substance, perhaps silt, still swirling at the corner where Leo and the obstruction had been. 

As the tunnel continued downwards it grew wider. Donnie was able to follow it with ease. He only hesitated on his descent when he felt pressure build on his tympanic disk. He didn’t have to pause long, only a few seconds each time to adjust his jaw and blow part of his slow exhale against closed nostrils. 

But even as the tunnel widened there was no Leo.

Even when he finally reached the bottom there was no Leo.

Even when he exited the tunnel to what could only be described as a chamber, there was no Leo.

Donnie knew Leo’s absence couldn’t be related to a lack of room. The chamber was so large that when he looked around the light from his headlamp didn’t reach a wall. 

It was like he had been teleported into the vast emptiness of space. Floating and surrounded by nothing but dark emptiness.

Well not quite nothing, in the distance he could see spots of light zipping against the backdrop of black. 

At any other time Donnie would have been excited. He was in freshwater, and there were only four known bioluminescent species that lived in freshwater and they were all snails that only lived in New Zealand.

But the prospect of finding and naming a new, amazing, species meant nothing to Donatello now.

April was missing.

Leonardo had left.

And Donatello was utterly alone.

Nothing more than a speck in the vast cave.

He kept one hand on the rope, and the other on the hilt of Leo’s sword.

All he could do was keep moving forward. All he could do was trust that everything would be ok.

So that was what he did, swimming deeper into the cavern that enveloped him and trying to ignore the knot of fear deep within his stomach.


	2. Perseverance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leo's going to keep his brother safe, and rescue his best friend, no matter the cost.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw: mentions of dead bodies and drowning

Leo’s wrist twisted and slammed against his sword’s guard. His elbow knocked against the sheath. He relaxed his grip on the pommel and his face and shoulder joined the rest of his body, lying flat on the damp grass. His hand shook as it slid down his sheath.

However his other hand remained in a death grip.

Death grip— 

Leo’s gaze lingered on his forearm. Bright red blood mixed with the water still clinging to the torn edges of his wetsuit. It dripped onto the ground in time with a staticato beeping. 

Maybe it came from his wrist. Maybe it belonged to one of the too many voices surrounding him. 

But it didn’t matter.

The thing in his hand was cold, stiff, and stationary.

He could feel five individual fingers in his grip. They were spread wide and not even the fall had unlocked their desperate curl. 

Leo knew what that meant.

It meant that his entire world just shattered.

She—

She was— 

He should have been faster. If he had brought a light, if he had just swam faster or pushed farther.

He should have done more. He—

Unbidden Leo’s gaze traced over the stiff limb in his grasp. Up past the painfully contorted shoulder to the face. 

Eyes wide and dull behind the mask, blue lips slightly parted, all set on a starkly pale face.

Leo’s first feeling was relief.

His second feeling was a gut wrenching guilt that he was happy some other kid died.

“It’s ok,” a voice that Leo did not recognize said. “You can let go now.” 

It was not ok, but Leo let go of the hand.

He felt Raph’s strong arm wrap around his plastron as a white sheet was lowered over the body he came back with.

“Come on Leo,” Raph whispered gently. “There’s another tent.” 

He let Raph pull him to his feet. He let Raph guide him past one wall of thick white material into the bright morning sun. 

The park was awash with activity, human activity. But Leo didn’t have long to observe before Raph pushed him through another white wall. The sunlight filtering through the fabric made the area feel calm and protected. And even though Leo knew that that protection was an illusion, he still allowed Raph to sit him in a folding chair near the center of the tent.

Raph leaned Leo’s sword against a white plastic folding table that was full of half unpacked dive gear.

“There are a lot of people here.” Leo said slowly.

“Yeah, one of the other diver’s families called in search crews. They arrived after you went down.”

Leo’s eyes jumped to the moving shadows coming in between the bottom of the fabric wall and the park’s bright green grass.

“How many.”

“Four families here, and five divers missing,” Raph answered. Leo raised a brow ridge at him and Raph clarified, “Two of the missing divers are brothers.” 

Leo clenched his hands together to keep them from shaking. Raph hadn’t mentioned how many humans there were for the entire rescue effort. That meant that there were a whole lot of them. Which was good for April but— 

“Where’s Mikey?” Leo asked.

Raph placed a steady hand on Leo’s shell. “He’s with Ms. O’Neil”

“Should we—”

Leo jolted when two humans entered the tent. His shell pressed hard against the back of the chair, and Leo was sure he would have flipped it if Raph hadn’t been standing there. 

“It’s ok,” said the first human, whose voice Leo recognized from his arrival. She was wearing a full wetsuit with a diving hood, and a mask that was pushed up to her forehead. “Your brother told us about the zoo incident.”

Leo pressed his shoulder against Raph. Without even turning, Leo could smell his ‘I should feel guilty about this but I don’t’ stink.

Raph gave a short nervous laugh. “So it turns out that seeing a celebrity chef mutate on live TV really helps with people’s understanding of this whole situation.”

Leo nodded. He could envision the lie that Raph told. Four brothers visiting a reptile exhibit when an oozesquito got in. Perhaps he even mentioned their father who would have unfortunately been holding a larger reptile’s rat stack at the time. It would work, at least until they could get April and Donnie out of the cave. But as time passed Leo was sure someone would look more closely at the excuse and wonder why the disappearance of a family wasn’t noticed or reported.

“Well that and my daughter adopted a puppy a few months ago from a capybara mutant. He is literally one of the nicest people I have ever met,” the other human said. He was wearing a black polo emblazoned with a staff and snake surrounded by a six pointed blue star. 

The EMT patted Leo’s shoulder lightly. Leo did his best to not let his nerves show.

“Do you mind if I take a look at your arm?” he asked.

Leo waved him off. “I’m fine, I just need to catch my breath and then get back to Donnie.”

The diver raised her hand. “Hey, hey, easy. I’ve got some of the most experienced divers in New York here. We’re already preparing for a recovery mission. I’m just hopeful that you can let us know what to expect.”

“No,” Leo said firmly, “I’m going back. I have to.”

“Kid, you’ve already done more than anyone could ask—” 

A heartbreaking wail cut off her words. In the screams he could clearly hear one name, Zach. 

Leo set his jaw and moved to stand. The diver applied pressure to his shoulder to keep him sitting.

“I know it’s hard to hear,” she said. “But you’ve already given one family closure that they wouldn’t otherwise have had. Now you can rest. And get your arm treated.”

“No.” Leo squared his shoulders and tried to look as imposing as possible while sitting in a folding chair.

She was unimpressed. “Look, I will literally stop you from going back into the water. I can’t allow any more kids getting hurt, or worse, on my watch.”

“You literally can’t stop me,” Leo answered. “My other sword is with Donnie right now. With a thought I can teleport to it. And I will.”

“Leo.” Raph’s voice, firm and concerned, cut through Leo’s argument.

“Raph,” He answered, twisting to look at his brother. “Donnie and April are still down there. I’m not going to just sit by.”

Leo faced the diver again. “Besides those tunnels are narrow with sharp corners. If your divers are going in when Donnie is attempting an exit...”

She sighed. “That could go very bad. Still, Leo, you need to let Chester look at your arm, and let me get you some non shredded gear.”

Leo narrowed his eyes. He moved to argue but she cut him off.

“It’ll be safer for everyone if you are well prepared, and your injury is treated. Tell me, what would happen to your brother if you teleported to him and then passed out from blood loss?”

“I—,” Leo shrunk into his chair. “It’s not that bad, but ok.”

Leo leaned forward. He allowed Raph to unzip the wetsuit while the EMT Chester pulled up his own chair. 

Leo slipped the wetsuit off of his uninjured arm first. Chester and Raph then turned their attention to gently peeling the suit off of his other arm. Leo turned his attention to not letting hard the sudden awareness of that injury hit him.

Leo was pleased that he didn’t scream. Even if he did curl against Raph, pushing his head into Raph’s arm. 

Raph didn’t say anything about that. Instead he silently held Leo close as Chester poked and rinsed his arm.

When Chester placed several thick gauze pads on his arm Leo thought the worst was over.

He was wrong.

Leo was not proud of the whimper that escaped him as he yanked his arm away from Chester.

“Easy, easy,” Chester said softly, “if we don’t get the bleeding under control you  _ will _ need to get stitches before going back.”

“That’ll take too long.” Leo said. He could feel Raph’s arm tense in preparation for an argument. Leo mentally prepared his counterpoint, they couldn’t leave Donnie and April there alone.

But Chester spoke first, holding out his hands. “Then let me help.”

Leo grimaced and squeezed his eyes shut as he placed his arm in Chester’s hands.

The pressure hurt. The unfamiliar fingers made it worse, turning his anxiety into a pounding beat he could feel in his neck. But he didn’t pull away. This was easier than fighting with Raph. And if something did go wrong— 

It wasn’t Raph’s fault he couldn’t fit down the tunnel. He shouldn’t feel guilty about it.

Besides, Leo already knew it was his fault for not being more careful in removing the body. For not swimming faster the first time.

Leo took in a hitched breath that had nothing to do with the pain in his arm.

If he had just taken one sword with him. He could have drastically shortened the rescue time. He could have saved April’s friend.

Chester gently released his arm.

“If it doesn’t open back up, you probably won’t need stitches.” 

Leo nodded. Avoiding stitches was at the bottom of his priority list. However given the choice he’d vastly prefer not to have more people poking at him.

Leo tried his best to be patient as Chester applied several coats of vaseline both below and above the new bandage. By the time Chester was satisfied with his wrapping and waterproofing, the diver had returned with new gear.

Leo pulled on the new wetsuit quickly, there were still people down there and he couldn’t afford to waste anymore time.

Allowing both Raph and Chester to assist in getting the wetsuit on, sped up the process. It also minimized the pain to his injured arm as he pulled on the sleeves. He then put on his dive computer as Raph and Chester got the new dive hood and shoes that she provided onto him. His headlamp went on next and he used the light from that to illuminate both the five fingered gloves, and his own hand.

He waved his three fingers as a quick explanation as to why they wouldn’t work. No one argued with his decision to throw them aside.

Finally Leo pulled on the fresh tank and held his regulator to his mouth. 

He smiled, saluted, and focused on his other sword. 

He felt an unobstructed orientation and triggered his teleport. 

In a flash of blue light he appeared in front of his brother.

Donnie was safe. In one hand he held Leo’s sword, in the other a yellow rope. He smiled when he saw Leo and— 

And— 

And— 

And it felt like an icepick was slammed into both sides of his head.

All of the air in his lungs escaped in a rush of bubbles. 

His hands clamped against his head. Palms pressing against his jaw while his fingers curled into the back of his skull. 

They did nothing to stifle the jagged white hot pain.

Leo sucked in air through his regulator, but before he could get a full breath Donnie yanked it out of his mouth.

Leo met Donnie’s wide terrified eyes, and felt Donnie’s fist slam into his plaston.

Leo lost all of the air in a burst of bubbles.

He needed air. 

He had to grab his regulator. 

But his hands couldn't let go of his head.

It hurt so bad.

His lungs screamed.

He teleported.

Leo landed alone, gasping on the grassy floor of the tent. His foot curled around the hilt of his sword.

He could hear mutated commotion around him. He felt someone grab his wrist. He resisted, trying desperately to keep that hand pressed against the side of his head. 

He failed.

Through all the muffled sounds he was able to hear one distinct curse word.

His other hand was pulled away. A mask was pushed over his beak. The straps were pulled tight around his head.

A new round of white hot pain erupted from both sides of his face.

Leo struggled to get his hands free. But they were held firmly in place by large strong arms. 

He heard the sound of Raph’s voice, far away and muffled. He smelled his fear stink much much closer. 

Prying his eyes open, he could see that it was Raph’s arms holding him. He could feel Raph’s plastron pressed against his shell.

He had no idea why Raph would keep him still. Nor why Donnie had punched him.

_ Donnie punched him. _

Leo squirmed. The straps of the mask twisted.

He gasped in pain, squeezing his eyes shut once again.

Raph loosened his hold on Leo’s arms. The mask was pressed tighter against his beak.

Leo wrenched both hands free. He ran them under the straps and dive hood to press against a spot behind his eye and above his jaw.

With those spots protected, the pain started to fade, like cotton candy dissolving in water. Until nothing remained but a memory. A memory that made him shiver.

Leo took several large shaky breaths before completely regaining control of his breathing.

“Donnie punched me.” Leo whispered. 

He felt Raph reply, but he couldn’t make out any words among his quiet mumbles.

“Why would he do that?” He said lounder.

Raph mumbled something unintelligible again. 

Leo pushed his eyes open. His plan was to look at Raph and figure out why he was muffled. But before he could Chester caught his gaze. He made sure that Leo was focused on him before speaking.

“Does your chest hurt?”

“A little, where he hit me.” 

Chester nodded. “Can you take a deep breath?”

Leo nodded and did so.

“Did you even take a breath at depth?”

“One, but that was right before he— why?”

Chester seemed to relax. “He knocked the wind out of you?”

Leo didn’t nod. He couldn’t risk moving his head and setting off new pain.

“I don’t understand.”

“I do,” Chester said, removing the mask from Leo’s beak, which allowed Leo to release his grasp on the sides of his head. “I think he saved your life. He’s more than three times deeper now than he was. That pressure—” 

“Donnie’s still down there,” Leo said quickly. “If there’s danger.”

“Your brother should be ok,” The diver said, kneeling to be face to face with Leo. She hesitated only slightly before continuing. “He’s right on the edge of some more severe nitrogen narcosis symptoms. But those are completely reversible. The biggest risk is in drastic change in pressure. Something that you do much faster than anyone else I’ve ever met.”

“I—”

“And just to be safe, I’ve already contacted Jacobi. They know they have an emergency coming in,” she continued.

“Where? I don’t—”

Raph mumbled something that Leo still couldn’t parse. 

The diver looked over Leo’s shoulder towards Raph before directing her attention back to Leo. “It’s ok, they have a big walk-in hyperbaric chamber. It can fit up to nine people. You’ll have plenty of room.”

Leo nodded and glanced at his sword. He tried to be subtle about it. To not tip his hand about the escape method he was planning. But it didn’t work. She followed his gaze and grabbed his sword.

“But just in case this is going to stay with you,” she said. “It’ll be just as dangerous to jump out from the pressurized chamber, as it was to jump out from depth.”

Leo directed his attention back to her. “Because it will be at the same pressure as depth?”

“Yes.” 

Leo grinned. “Ok.”

Raph mumbled something.

Chester looked over Leo at him. “I don’t think he can hear you.”

Leo felt more than head the questioning hum reverberating in Raph’s chest.

“I’m pretty sure he ruptured both eardrums,” Chester answered. “We’ll get them treated after we eliminate the decompression risk.”

Leo felt Raph adjust himself, and Leo twisted so that they were face to face.

“What are you planning?” Raph asked

“I can’t teleport myself or any passengers safely between different pressures. But in that chamber, with room for nine. I won’t be going between pressures,” he answered. “I can still do this.”

“Leo,” Raph warned.

“I’m going to do this.” Leo turned away from Raph to face the diver again. “You know it’s the safest way to do the rescue.”

“I don’t like it,” she said. 

A human hand touched his bicep, and Leo jerked his head towards it. He found himself face to face with April’s mother. That felt vaguely unfair to Leo for two reasons. He’d wanted to meet her on terms where April wasn’t in danger and he could make a better impression than a kid being fussed over by his older brother. It also wasn’t fair because her mother wasn’t a ninja and really shouldn’t be able to sneak up on him like that.

“I can’t and I won’t ask you to do this,” she said.

“I know. But I’m going to,” Leo said firmly. “April’s like a sister to me and Donnie’s my brother. I’m not leaving either of them down there. Not if there’s something I can do about it.”

She squeezed her eyes shut and embraced Leo. Raph returned the gesture when Leo found his arms pinned to his side.

“You be safe,” she commanded when she released the hug.

Leo nodded and looked at the diver.

“I really don’t like it,” she said. “I’ve had friends die on recovery missions.” 

Leo raised a brow ridge at her. “And yet you’re here, preparing to dive.”

“It’s different. I have experience.”

“And I have biology,” Leo countered, “And, if you help me, I can also utilize your experience.”

She looked over his head at Raph. Leo felt him nod and she sighed. 

“Fine, I’ll help.”

“Thank you.”

Leo grabbed his sword and tied it around his waist. He walked with her to the ambulance. Each step was hard when the world seemed to spin under him, but Leo was not going to give them any more ammunition to prevent him from making his attempt.

In the ambulance the diver sat across from him while Chester and a second EMT monitored Leo’s vitals. He was thankful for the distraction that she provided as the two human EMTs poked at him in a confined space.

As they drove, she pointed to various lines on his dive computer. 

“This is your depth. Don’t let it go much higher than 30 meters. 

“This is your assent rate. You’ve already triggered this warning twice. But when moving through the water column try not to let it go too high. 

“This is your decompression obligation, and this is the alert that will go off if you skip a step. If all goes well, we’ll handle decompression using the chamber. When you bring your brother back we’ll calibrate the decompression to his dive computer since he’s been at depth longer, he’ll have a greater obligation.”

“So when I bring April and the others back you’ll need to calibrate to their computer right?”

She sighed. “You know there’s—” 

“I know.”

“We won’t be able to reopen the chamber until decompression is complete,” she said. “If you—” 

“I know,” Leo said quickly. But it wouldn’t matter. He was going to find all four living divers.

He had to.

The ambulance shuddered to a stop. As Chester helped him out, the diver looked at him.

“I can’t decide if you’re brave or foolish,” she said.

Leo grinned. “I’m a teenager.” 

“Honestly, that’s worse,” she answered, allowing herself a small smile.

She led him through the facility and handled the interactions with the staff going over their plan. Leo was thankful for the buffer. There were a lot of people here that he didn’t know. On the best of days his confidence in his ability as faceman would counterbalance his anxiety at being surrounded by strangers. Especially strangers who could have very well bought pitchforks during the Stockboy inspired anti-mutant panic.

But today was not the best of days. He had a mass of anxiety surrounding the safety of his best friend. Donnie’s assumption that she was at the air pocket was just that, an assumption made because the other option was unimaginable. The other divers were an additional complication. Of course Leo wanted them safe, even if they might react poorly to Donnie. They were living kids, they were friends of April, and, perhaps a bit cynically, they had families that could very easily blame their losses on the weird outsider turtles.

He felt two hands on his shoulders, and directed his attention towards the diver.

“Leo, good luck.”

“Thanks—” 

“Sydney,” she supplied.

“Thank you Sydney.” He said giving her the most confident grin he could manage. “I’m going to bring everyone back.”

Sydney didn’t return his grin. But she did squeeze both of his shoulders.

“I’ll let you know when you reach pressure,” she said.

Leo nodded. He spared a glance at the thick walled chamber before entering. It was like a cylinder was tipped over in the middle of the room and covered in technical equipment. There was one door on the closest flat side of the cylinder, and only one tiny round porthole like window along the curved walls of the chamber. 

Despite the knot his stomach had twisted itself into, Leo entered the chamber. On one side there were six padded chairs built into the curved wall, and the other side held two movable chairs, the small porthole window, and a square movable cabinet that had both blankets and water on it. The sides were separated by a narrow walkway.

Leo leaned his sword against the farthest chair from the door. He then sat in a middle chair, across from the cabinet, where he could easily see out of the porthole.

Sydney was on the other side.

Leo waited.

The room felt like it became slightly warmer, and several times he heard muffled electronic sounding static. But otherwise it was peaceful.

And so he sat and he waited. 

The increased warmth dissipated. 

The static sounded, and stopped. 

And finally Sydney held up a sign, written in thick ink.

_ AT DEPTH _

Leo flashed her a grin and a thumbs up. He turned on his headlamp, exhaled, and pressed the regulator into his mouth. 

And in a flash of blue light, Leo was no longer in the chamber.

There was no pain with this jump. 

Donnie eyed him warily. Leo gave him the largest grin he could with the regulator, and flashed a thumbs up.

Donnie pushed his old tank forward and Leo shook his head. He gave a thumbs up again and Donnie visibly relaxed. 

Leo looked around. The area they were in was huge. The light from his headlamp fading before it could reach the walls, ceiling, or floor. He did see spots of lights, some moving and some stationary in the distance. But he did not see one very important thing.

The rope was nowhere in sight.

Leo looked back towards Donnie. Donnie’s expression shifted from relaxed to embarrassed. But Leo knew that Donnie had no reason to be. He knew Donnie wouldn’t let the rope out of sight except in the most dire of circumstances. And he also knew that his first reappearance would have qualified as dire. If Donnie hadn’t reacted quickly, if he let Leo return with a new breath of air— 

Donnie had nothing to be embarrassed about.

Leo put up a single finger then made a circle, before pointing at his dive computer. Ten minutes. He was going to look for ten minutes before returning to Donnie.

Every direction was open for Leo to explore, so he chose the most easily replicable one. There were stationary lights at an angle beneath him. 

Leo checked his depth and descended. 

Despite the external dread that weighed over him, this chamber was extremely cool. It was like he was experiencing the start of Jupiter Jim and the Doom Comet first hand. But instead of slowly descending onto a killer comet’s surface, Leo was watching the layered floor with jutting angular sections and valleys of rocks appear from the darkness. 

The lights that Leo was following broke into two distinct groups. He could see the closer group more clearly now. They were some sort of mystical fish, Leo could tell by the six eyes, line of glowing lights along their side, and teeth that looked far too familiar.

Fortunately they were much smaller than the one he had accidentally almost fed the turtle tank to, barely half the size of Leo’s hand.

They were gathered around something far too dark and smooth to be rocks. 

Leo raced forward. The fish scattered, and Leo’s fears were confirmed. The body of the scuba diver was apparent on the rock covered floor of the cavern. Their hands were stretched out as if desperately trying to reach something, somewhere in front of them.

Their hands were also covered in small bloodless laceration from when the fish had found an opening to feed.

Leo wanted to turn and flee, to pretend he didn’t see what he saw. But he made a promise that he was bringing everyone home. And he was going to keep it.

Leo approached the body. And forcefully not thinking about what he was doing, he lifted their facedown head and turned their headlamp to point straight up. 

He should be able to find them again. After he located the lifeline for Donnie.

Leo looked towards where the diver was reaching, towards the other mass of fish lights. 

He knew what he would find

He went anyway.

There was another diver, also face down, also reaching forward in vain.

Leo wanted to throw up.

But he couldn’t. Not yet. He had to focus.

Just like with the other diver, he turned this one’s headlamp around so that he could find them again. And just like he had done before he scanned for more congregations of fish. But there were none, only the random motions of lights in the distance.

This direction was a bust. He didn’t find the rope.

Leo thought about the sword in Donnie’s hand. 

He hesitated. He wasn’t supposed to ascend too fast. That was the entire point of him checking his depth when he left Donnie.

Leo slowly ascended. He kept his dive computer in front of him, carefully watching the depth and ascent rate as he rose past darkness.

Well, darkness and one reflective yellow line.

Leo’s eyes widened. He raced towards it. The rope, suspended over the cavern floor. 

Of course the rope was here. The divers must have been following it before they— 

They would have been going from the blocked exit to the air pocket. They would have been trying to save their own lives.

They failed, but there were still two unaccounted for. Two unmarked by the fish here.

Leo looked down. He was still directly over the light from the second headlamp. He could see the first headlamp behind him.

Looking down the rope that direction must lead to the exit. And the other direction, where both divers were trying in vain to reach, that would be the air pocket. 

Leo noted his depth, three meters below where he started, and removed his headlamp. He tied it to the rope and pointed it up.

There were two divers left. Leo could point Donnie in the right direction to find the survivors, while Leo kept his promise.

Leo ascended as carefully as he could, reading his dive computer by the dwindling light of his headlamp. He was about a meter from his teleporting depth when he could no longer read the numbers by the provided light. 

That had to be close enough.

Leo teleported.

Donnie grinned past his regulator when he appeared.

Leo returned the grin and gestured for Donnie to follow him.

Donnie did, and Leo swam him towards the lights. He could see all three.

And like a lifesaving beacon the rope appeared out of the darkness. Leo turned back to Donnie flashing a thumbs up. Donnie returned the gesture when he reached the rope. However once he got one hand on it Donnie hesitated. He looked down both lengths, and saw the rope disappear into darkness in both directions.

Leo pointed him in the direction the divers had been heading. 

Again he put up a single finger and a circle, before pointing at his dive computer. 

Ten more minutes.

Donnie nodded and headed off, one hand loosely encircling the rope as he swam.

Leo waited for him to fade into the distance before grabbing his own headlamp and descending. 

He found the second diver easily enough with their beacon. He reached under their body. He drove from his mind all meaning that the subtle curve of the waist under the wetsuit could have.

If it was true. If it was her. That was all the more reason to make sure she got home.

Leo bit down on his regulator as he lifted them. It wasn’t hard underwater, but their body was stiff and awkward and Leo’s injured forearm throbbed.

He couldn’t stop though. And carefully, he carried them along as he half swam, half walked to the other. 

Leo placed the diver he carried on top of the other. There wasn’t a whole lot of room in the hyperbaric chamber, and this was his only choice if he wanted to get them both out.

Leo crouched next to the two. In each hand he held one of theirs. Their fingers stiff and frozen in a last desperate attempt for air that would never come.

He balanced on one foot while putting the other slightly behind him. He felt his sword, felt an orientation that would fit all of them onto the ground, exhaled, and teleported.

With the blue light came the return of the pull of gravity. Leo’s world spun. He pitched forward. Knee hitting the floor and face hitting something he really didn’t want to think about.

He couldn’t even pull away. His regulator caught against— 

He couldn’t— 

It was as if he was being dragged down for his failure. 

He dropped the regulator from his mouth in a choked sob, which released him, sending him tumbling backwards against the end of the metal chamber.

Leo’s entire body shook. He squeezed his eyes closed.

But he couldn’t ignore them. Not here. Not when there were two more living divers to rescue.

He forced himself to move. 

There wasn’t a lot of room to maneuver in the chamber. He had to lift the first diver, hold their long straight hair and pale skin far too close to his face, in order to switch positions with them. Once there was nothing between them and the far end of the chamber, Leo maneuvered them into the far seat.

They couldn’t sit, their joints were far too frozen to be bent. And Leo wasn’t going to apply force. 

He turned and repeated the same procedure with the other body. They both, barely, fit side by side in the chair farthest from the door. 

It took all the blankets to cover them completely, from outstretched hands to pointed toes. 

The way Leo’s hands shook made it almost impossible to tuck those blankets in.

But he had to.

And when he did, he fled to the chair closest to the door. 

Muffled static sounded. But all Leo could focus on was his shaking body, and the feeling of his forehead on his knees as he cried.


	3. Patience

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> April reflects on the choices and mistakes that lead to her becoming trapped.

April pressed the heels of her hands against her eyes. A headache thrummed beneath them. It was just uncomfortable enough that she couldn’t sleep, that she couldn’t forget what had happened.

How she messed up.

And the day had started so nicely. Although perhaps, April supposed, it was yesterday that started so well. 

Darius had texted the entire diving club that night. His little brother, Cody, had just gotten his first set of gear as a slightly belated 13th birthday gift, and Darius was excited to have him test it out.

April was in and Darius texted the group with the location of the lake. With two newbies, this would be Cody’s first dive and April’s fourth, Darius’s plan was to have the two of them just take several short dives.

However that changed when Zach and Karen responded. 

Karen:  ‘ _ Damn, I saw the location and hoped...’ _

Zach:  ‘ _ I’ve told her all about what we found. I thought she’d finally get a chance to see it.’ _

Darius had left them on read, but Zach pushed.

Zach:  ‘ _ Come on, they’re all smaller than we are, it’ll be easy for them.’ _

Darius responded more quickly this time.

Darius:  ‘ _ It is pretty awesome. Are you guys up for it?’ _

Cody immediately said yes, and Karen followed. April hesitated, her gut twisted with nerves.

Darius private messaged her. He explained the dive and that he had done it many times before.

April steeled herself. She had fought the Shredder, three times. She wasn’t going to be scared off by a bit of water. Besides Darius was comfortable bringing his little brother. And his brother had even less experience than April. 

So April agreed as well.

That was probably the worst decision of her life. And she had called Donnie to get him to fix Albearto, knowing full well that there was a large chance that Donnie would try to dazzle. And that that dazzle would backfire. 

At least when Albearto came to life, April had been able to get all the kids to safety. 

But now—

The dive didn’t even start off that badly. 

The tunnel was intense, but the feeling of accomplishment when she came out at the descent was well worth it.

And at the end of the descent was the ballroom. That was like nothing she had ever seen. The space was massive and breathtaking. She had been to the hidden city, but it had nothing on the ballroom in terms of feeling as though she had been teleported to another world.

And the cave with the air pocket— 

The roof was high over their heads, its sheared rock angling up into darkness that their headlamps couldn’t touch. 

It also had a rocky ‘island’ jutting out from the cave wall. It was dry but easy to climb on, and big enough for all of them to lounge comfortably. Even if the actual act of sitting was made uncomfortable by all the small rocks and pebbles covering the island.

They could breathe the cave air, and used that time to talk, discussing the dive and Cody’s birthday and Karen’s college applications. Everyone was laughing.

Zach and Darius pointed out where they had carved their name into the cave wall. Zach then gave Karen a rock and she added her own name under his. Cody put his name below Darius’s, and April added her own below them all. 

It was like they had found their own secret world.

Now it felt like a prison.

Despite how big the cave was, April couldn’t shake the feeling that the walls were closing in. That the water was rising. 

She knew that that wasn’t true. 

The cave was big and sturdy, the water level was stable. There was no chance of a cave in or of running out of air. In addition the water surrounding her was, like the lake, fresh water. 

But her scuba tanks were nearly empty, and the distance between her and the surface was far too vast.

She was safe but stuck. Trapped in this cave, completely isolated from the outside world. 

April was hit with the very real possibility that she would slowly starve to death here.

But perhaps even worse was knowing that she wasn’t going to be the only one to die here. Her mistake had gotten another trapped as well. 

Everything had been going well as they headed towards the exit. They swam quickly through the ballroom and made a slow ascent up to the tunnels. Well April, Cody, Darius, and Karen made a slow ascent. Zach had raced slightly ahead.

He was swimming backwards, flashing Karen finger guns and winks. Darius once motioned for him to slow down. But when Zach didn’t listen, all Darius did was roll his eyes and ignore him.

At least until Zach slammed to a sudden stop at the entrance to the tunnels.

In the entrance to the tunnels.

The best April could tell from the back of the group was that his twin tanks had gotten wedged in the tunnel. And the rest of him was stuck in a contorted position that only seemed to get worse the more he struggled.

They tried to pull him out. Darius grabbing onto Zach, Karen to Darius, April to Karen, and Cody to April. However despite their effort that didn’t budge Zach. 

Darius waved them back and changed tactics. He pulled out a dive knife and moved forward. April assumed that he was aiming to cut the straps holding Zach’s tanks to his back but it was very slow going. Zach would cramp or move, perhaps in an attempt to make Darius’s task easier, but it only served to make Darius back up and re-angle his approach.

Looking back April was sure that he was just one or two cuts from freeing Zach. 

But at the time, while she was stuck at the back of the group unable to do anything except watch her pressure gage tick lower and lower, she lacked that confidence.

She wasn’t as experienced as the rest of them. She wasn’t keeping her breathing under control. Her only thought was to get back to the air pocket. Back to where she knew she could breathe and wait for them to finish.

She hadn’t considered the fact that returning to the pocket would use most of her remaining air, leaving her trapped.

That was probably why Karen had turned her down when April tapped her leg and gestured back.

That lack of experience was probably why Cody didn’t.

And thus, because of her, a young kid was trapped, almost a hundred feet underground. If only she had had a bit more faith in Darius. If only she had been calmer. If only she had waited a few minutes more.

But she didn’t.

She heard Cody shift. The rocks clattered beneath him as he tried for a more comfortable position.

It made her stomach clench painfully. She told herself that the others would have already reached the surface. That they were preparing a rescue mission and someone would pop up any second now.

She had been telling herself that for hours.

She believed it less and less with each repetition.

But still she had to hold onto that hope for as long as possible. Because the alternative, slowly starving alone in the dark with a kid she led to his doom, was unimaginable.

Not unimaginable.

She could imagine it, and the terrifying choices that came with it very clearly.

April resisted the urge to turn back on her headlamp and check the time on her dive computer. They needed to conserve power. If they came up with a plan later or missed a rescuer because their lights were dead she—

They needed to conserve power. Just in case.

April laid down, trying her best to ignore the uncomfortable way that the rocks dug into her ribs.

“They’re gonna send someone to help us, right?” Cody’s voice was very small.

“Of course they are.”

“Are you sure?”

“Positive.” April answered, in her most cheerful customer service voice.

Cody was silent for a moment before admitting, “I’m scared.”

“So am I,” April said softly. “But they’re going to come get us. You’ll see.”

April wasn’t sure of that herself, but Cody seemed to buy it. Or at least he didn’t press the issue any more. Instead he laid next to her curling against her side.

In the dark of the cave, it didn’t matter if her eyes were opened or closed.

April closed them anyway.

She didn’t open them again until the sound of Cody’s scream ripped through the cave.

April chased her fear away as she shot to her feet, scrambling to turn on her headlamp. 

In the light of the beam she saw the silhouette of a diver. They were holding a spare tank in one hand and a sheathed sword in the other.

She heard Cody run. She felt him grab her hand as he hid behind her. And in the light of her headlamp she could see why.

The hand that held the sword was green with two fingers and a thumb. The face was unmasked, green, and beaked. 

It was the best thing she had ever seen, even if it did look a bit blurry without her glasses

“Donnie!”

He turned to face her, spitting out his regulator and grinning.

“April! and—”

“Cody,” she supplied.

Donnie only took a step forward, before he noticed Cody’s suspicious glare at Leo’s sword in his hand. He crouched and placed both the sword and the extra equipment he was carrying on the ground.

“Ahh,” he said slowly, like he was trying to coax the last bit of battery out of a dying device, “you must be the diving buddy.”

Cody looked at April, eyes wide.

“He’s my friend. He’s cool.” She said before giving Donnie a smirk. “Well, sometimes.”

“Ha ha ha,” Donnie said dryly.

Cody didn’t move. “Why does he have a sword?”

“ It’s his brother’s sword,” she said emphasizing the word  _ brother.  _ If she could get Cody to see Donnie as the cool and relatable person that he was the whole rescue would go a lot smoother. And perhaps she could convince Cody not to tell anyone about the giant talking turtle that saved them, preserving her friend’s treasured anonymity. 

“Yeah,” Donnie said, “Leo should be here in a few minutes.”

Cody stepped out from behind April and narrowed his eyes. “You don’t leave your diving buddy.”

“Relax, he teleports,” Donnie said. “He’ll be here soon.”

After five minutes Donnie was calmly sitting next to April checking over their gear. After ten minutes he was pacing around the island. After fifteen minutes he returned to April.

Donnie sat with a heavy thud next to her. He pressed his head into his knees.

“This is bad.”

“It’s ok D, You know Leo can sometimes lose track of time, but he always comes through. He’ll be here soon with a smile and a joke about being late.”

“I know that April, but— ” he said softly, “But there may be one significant complication.”

“What?”

“ After the first time, I assumed that he learned and pulled his other sword deeper into the cave. But if I was wrong. If he left it on the surface and merely swam deeper before teleporting. And then being a dum-dum because  _ I  _ didn’t warn him of the risks of pressure change—” 

“The bends—” 

“Might actually be the best case scenario, as he wasn’t down for long. I’ve got some tanks of pure oxygen back in my lab, and I can pressure the interior of my drill. But— If he had just taken a breath— If that air then expanded on the surface—”

“That would be bad.”

“I can’t fix that.” 

“We don’t know that’s what happened.” April said softly.

“I never should have risked it. I should have left that sword in the tunnels. But I was selfish I—”

A blue light cut him off and a figure fell flat on his face next to the sword.

Cody let out a yelp of surprise. And Donnie shouted Leo’s name.

But Leo didn’t react. There were no theratics, no calls of ‘safe landing’, no groan. Just a Leo who was completely focused on getting his limbs beneath him.

April felt Donnie freeze beside her, tension radiating off of him. It didn’t help that Leo didn’t stand. But rather curled forward clutching his knees.

“Donnie?” Leo’s voice shook more than April had ever heard before. His face was blanched, and his arms trembled, even as they tightly clutched his legs.

That word cut through Donnie’s tension like a knife and he raced forward. 

“Hey Leo, I’m here,” He said crouching in front of Leo, one hand extended to grip his shoulder.

“Don’t be so quiet.” Leo said loudly, pulling Donnie into a tight hug.

“I’m really not.” Donnie answered softly. His voice portrayed annoyance, but he didn’t try to pull away.

Leo didn’t respond to that directly. Instead he shut his eyes and leaned against Donnie’s neck.

“I take it you didn’t—” Leo cut himself off with a harsh breath in. 

April found her feet with that sound. She raced over to him, terrified that that shuddering breath was a precursor to him coughing blood. 

She knelt beside him and hesitantly placed a hand on his cheek. Leo's eyes shot up to meet hers. 

The next thing she knew, she was being held up by him as he spun.

Leo tipped sideways. And Donnie caught them both. But even while leaning heavily on Donnie, Leo didn't loosen his crushing hug.

There were tears in the corners of his eyes when he pulled back to look at her. They emphasized the large grin he was wearing. But she only had a second to note that before he pulled her back into his embrace.

“April,” He said, slightly too loud, while pressed against her cheek, “I’m so glad that you’re ok.”

“Yeah Leo, I’m fine.” She answered.

Leo maintained the hug past that proclamation. He maintained it past Cody’s voiced assumption that he was another friend of hers. He maintained it past Donnie’s awkward throat clear.

He maintained it until April put light pressure on his arm. He released her before she actually had to pull away. 

When she saw his face again, his smile had drifted away. His hands were shaking as he harshly rubbed them together.

“There’s one more person,” he said, looking at April with a quiver in his voice. “Just one more who—”

“Cody?” April asked. “Cody’s here.”

At those words Leo tore his gaze away from April and swept over the small island. She could tell the second he spotted Cody. Leo’s face lit up as if Donnie had just been glooped in the Lair Games.

He raced to Cody, stumbling once but not falling. He did not hesitate before pulling Cody into a tight hug. 

Cody looked less enthusiastic about the contact. April prepared to intervene, but Cody never shifted from mild annoyance to fear of anger. The thought of being rescued probably helped with that. 

Leo immediately released the hug when Cody pushed away. And stood, with a large smile on his face while Cody surveyed him with a frown.

“Great, now we have three partial tanks and four people. Which doesn’t help us all get out.”

“Not to worry. I am a teleporter.” Leo said with his usual bravado and flourish. 

“Except that teleporting from this depth to the lake edge could cause significant pressure injury,” Donnie deadpanned from behind Leo. 

Leo brought his finger to his lip in thought.

“I think I’m going to need to teleport you all one at a time,” he said. “That makes it a bit easier to judge space.”

Donnie closed the distance between him and Leo quickly. He placed both hands on Leo’s shoulders and spun Leo so that they were face to face.

“You can’t just ignore a problem and make it go away.” Donnie said firmly.

Leo tilted his head to the side. April could see his grin waver for a second before snapping back into place. “What are you talking about?”

“We can not teleport to the surface.” Donnie said firmly. “Decompression sickness is deadly and I don’t—”

“Relax, I got this,” Leo said, shrugging his shoulders to throw off Donnie’s hands. 

“How?”

Leo smirked. “Because my other sword is in a Hyper-bear-something. So, you know, similar pressure.”

“Hyperbaric,” Donnie said. “Where did you find a—” 

“A rescue effort was mounted while we were under water.”

April felt like she had just touched a live wire. Every muscle clenched and the shock took her breath away. This was exactly what she didn’t want. 

Donnie tensed as well. And when he spoke his words were very carefully measured. “So you’re at a human—”

“Chil-lax,” Leo said flinging an arm around Donnie’s neck. “It’s fine. Raph told them all about the incident at the zoo.”

Donnie looked at April and then shifted his attention to Cody. The question she could see practically hanging on his tongue disappeared.

“So, why don’t we finish this conversation somewhere that’s not in an isolated underwater cave?” Leo asked lightly.

“Yes please.” Cody said.

Leo held out a hand to Cody. Cody accepted it.

“Breathe out and hold on,” Leo said.

And in a second they had both disappeared in a flash of blue light.

“Something’s wrong with Leo.” April said softly to Donnie.

“And so you let your dive buddy go first,” he answered flatly. “Nice.”

“I know he can do it. It’s just, something’s really off. It’s like he’s subdued or confused.”

Donnie looked away. When he spoke his voice was soft. “I think— I think he got injured in one of his earlier teleports. His ears...”

Donnie fell silent and April didn’t push. She wasn’t going to make Donnie say what she already knew. A pressure injury to his ears, when he was trying to save her. A pressure injury that wouldn’t have happened if she had just been a bit more confident. 

And now.

And now they were going to be surrounded by potentially hostile humans and Leo... He- he couldn’t—

Her train of thought was cut off by a flash of blue light. Leo appeared, tipped forward, and fell face first with a theoretical groan.

“Really not sticking the landings.” He said, pushing himself back to his feet. “April, ready?”

“Before she goes,” Donnie responded, “what zoo incident?”

Leo rapidly tapped his fingers against his leg. 

“Raph’s cover story for us,” he said quickly, “We got bit by oozequetos at the reptile house at a zoo. Ready, April?”

Leo stepped away from his sword and held his hand towards April. April looked from Donnie, who had a litany of questions for Leo mentally lined up to Leo, who was still nervously tapping against his leg so quickly that his entire arm shook.

“Yeah, I’m ready,” April said, taking his hand.

Leo grinned. “Ok, same as Cody, exhale and hold on.”

April did so, and they disappeared in a flash of blue light.

It was one of the smoothest teleports that she had ever been on with Leo. Which made it all the more concerning that she had to catch him when they landed.

He leaned heavily against her for a moment before getting his feet back under him. Once he did so, April looked around. She was in a small chamber with six seats side by side. Cody was behind her at the far end of the row of chairs. And in front of her, past Leo, at the other end was a messy pile of blankets and his sword. 

Leo directed her towards the seat next to Cody.

“Stay here,” He said firmly, “I’ll be right back.”

April rolled her eyes. “It’s not like I can go anywhere.”

“I know but—” Leo said, not rising to her joke and starting to drum his fingers against his leg.

“He needs that room to land safely,” Cody cut in.

“Of course Leo, I’ll be right here until you get back with Donnie.”

Leo gave her a relieved smile and disappeared in a flash of blue light. Once he was gone a speaker built into the wall next to a small round porthole crackled to life. 

“Hi, my name is Sydney and I’m a professional diver helping with the rescue. You can press the yellow button on the wall to talk.”

April looked at the speaker and then to Leo’s sword.

“You have plenty of room,” Cody said. “I was on it when you arrived.”

“Thanks,” April said and moved to the panel, pressing the yellow button. “Um, Hi?"

April looked towards the porthole and saw a woman with short cropped blue black hair holding a microphone. 

“April right?” She, Sydney, asked, waiting for April to nod before continuing. “I know you probably want to relax or talk with your mom. But before that I’ve got some questions.”

April felt her stomach sink. She should have insisted that Leo slow down. That he went over their cover story in more depth. But she didn’t.

Still, she was April O’Neil, she went toe to toe with the Shredder. All she had to do was keep things vague, and not let them see her sweat. 

“Sure,” She said slowly and with far more confidence than she felt.

Sydney nodded. “Any pain, injuries, or discomfort?”

“Just a bit of a headache.”

“Just now, or while you were in the cave?” Sydney asked.

“While I was in the cave.”

Sydney seemed to lose some tension in her shoulders. “Ok, that’s not totally unexpected. But let us know if it gets worse or doesn’t start to feel better.”

April nodded and Sydney continued her questioning.

“Any other pain?”

“No.” These were questions April could answer easily. But still Leo and Donnie were gone and she had to be on her guard for the inevitable moment when the questioning turned to the _turtle_ in the room. 

“Can you hold your dive computer to the window?” Sydney asked. And once she had noted the decompression profile, she continued. “Ok, we’ll start that once Leo and his brother get back. Let us know if anything changes.”

“Right.” April said slowly. Leo was just name dropped. Any second now the questioning would turn and— 

“Do you want to talk to your mom now?”

April blinked, taking the moment to process the unexpected question before answering. 

“Yes.” 

Sydney moved away from the window and April could see to the end of the room for the first time. There were three distinct groups there. The group farthest to one side was a man and woman holding each other while standing ramrod straight. They were both blinking hard and attempting to keep a wavering smile in place. The woman had Cody’s red hair, the man had Darius’s strong jaw.

The group farthest to the other side, standing near the entrance to the room, was Raph and Mikey. She could see that Mikey had retreated slightly into his shell, the way that he always did when there was something he didn’t want to deal with. She could see Raph squaring his shoulders, and subtly placing himself between everyone else and Mikey. 

She had never meant to expose them all. And this hospital setting, it was even worse. 

Not that she could do anything about it now. Trapped as she was in the hyperbaric chamber for the next two hours while they decompressed. So she looked for a distraction and found it in the third ‘group’, her mother, who was approaching the window.

Her face fluctuated between scared anger, which reminded April that she really did mess up and cause a lot of potential problems for her family and friends, to a teary eyed smile, which made April feel even worse.

And the way her voice shook when she picked up the microphone. The way she refused to be appeased by April’s ‘I’m ok mom’ made April relish the distraction that the blue light of Leo’s teleportation provided.

Both Leo and Donnie arrived. And like with her teleport, Leo toppled forward into Donnie’s arms. 

He opened his eyes immediately, and April could see the way that they spun. His eyes locked with hers, however he could not maintain that gaze for more than a second before it drifted to the side. Still, that didn’t stop him from squeezing his eyes closed, clenching his jaw, and returning his gaze to her.

His hard won focus drove worms of guilt through April's gut. Worms that not even his relieved smile could quell. He'd risked so much and all he had asked was that she stayed there. 

Leo pulled his feet under him, directing Donnie to the third seat directly behind where April was standing. He took the fourth, leaving April’s seat between Cody and Donnie open as well as an open seat between him and the pile of blankets.

Leo sat twisted so far in his seat that he was facing Donatello instead of the walls of the chamber. He leaned forward, one hand gripping his other forearm, his head pressed into Donnie’s shoulder.

She met Donnie’s eyes. 

“Do you want to talk?” She asked, “I saw Mikey and Raph waiting.”

Donnie shrugged and Leo very firmly kept his head planted on Donnie’s shoulder. 

“I guess not,” Donnie said flatly.

Leo didn’t move. Donnie leaned his head against Leo’s.

April turned towards Cody.

“Do you want to...”

“No.” He said quickly. “I mean I love my folks and all. But I’ve already had that honor once. Don’t feel like doing it in front of an audience.”

“Just a little awkward,” April said.

“Just a lot awkward,” he corrected.

“Yeah,” April agreed and turned back to her own mother. 

April knew what notes to hit, as she had done it before after the three day long battle with the Foot and feral Shredder. But this time her assurances of “I’m fine,” and “I promise I’m not hurt,” and “I’m so sorry for worrying you,” didn’t sink in.

Nothing she tried was able to wipe her mother’s tears away. She wished so badly that she could give her a hug, but the thick glass and metal walls and pressure differential prevented that. 

She was glad Mikey was there to do what she couldn’t.

“I’m so glad you’re ok,” He said, his voice crackling over the speaker as he looped one arm around her mother. “Why don’t you get some rest. I’ll handle things out here.”

April graciously accepted that out to the conversation. She turned towards her seat, noq half taken up by Cody’s legs. He was curled over himself, arms hugging his chest tightly, legs propped over the armrest. That position had no right being comfortable, and yet his eyes were closed and his breathing steady. 

April turned. There was another seat free next to Leo. She didn’t have to disturb Cody. Although she might be able to grab one of the blankets on the far seat, and make him a bit more comfortable.

Leo had a bad habit of hoarding blankets. By the end of their Jupiter Jim marathon last February Leo had successfully burritoed himself in every one of their blankets. And while amusing when he was doing it to annoy Donnie, he didn’t need every single blanket now. 

He wasn’t even using them. He was just curled up against a sleeping Donnie’s shoulder.

She approached the blankets. But when she reached for them, Leo’s hand shot out and grabbed her arm.

“Can’t sleep?” He asked.

“Yeah, I...,” April turned from the blankets towards Leo. Despite the easy smile that he gave her, she could feel his nerves in the way his grip trembled. She could put off her blanket quest until he was feeling better.

“Want to talk about it?” He asked.

Leo pushed himself gently off of his sleeping brother and stood, offering her his old seat. She accepted and Leo sat between her and the blankets. He carefully positioned himself on the edge of the seat, leaning over the armrest to invade the space he just vacated. His knees pressed against April’s legs. In that contact she could feel the nervous energy that his easy smile hid.

“Not really,” April admitted. “But, we've got at least an hour to kill and while Mom's great she’s—”

“What?”

“Just a bit overwhelming right now,” She said, quickly lightening her tone before she gave Leo more reason to be nervous. “It’s just a mom thing, the bigger question is how are you doing?”

“I'm fine.”

“You know I can tell when you're lying, right?” She deadpanned.

Leo sighed dramatically. 

April raised an eyebrow in return. She couldn’t help but notice the way he was holding his forearm tightly in his other hand.

“Fine I may have gotten a little banged up,” He said, “But seriously, I've had worse. You know I've had worse. Plus this time they're going to treat me in an actual hospital so, you know, nothing to worry about.”

“Nothing to worry about?” April scoffed. “Leo do you think so lowly of me that you don't think I can tell when something is really off?”

“That’s not it at all,” he said, “I promise. It’s just that you don't need to worry about me right now. You only need to worry about you.”

“About me? You’re the one who got hurt trying to rescue me from a mistake I made.”

Leo flinched. He curled towards her and grabbed her shoulder with one hand.

“This isn’t your fault,” he said firmly.

“Then don't hide what happened. You can barely stand. And that is my fault.”

“Actually I'm pretty sure it's my fault.” Leo said with a slight laugh. “I’m the one that forgot pressure was a thing.”

Leo slipped off his dive hood. He held his hands on either side of his face, just above his jaw, just below a small red and ragged injury.

“Technically these two scales act as our eardrums. And I kinda made mine go, pop. That’s what’s causing my dizziness. Not blood loss, not a head injury, just this. It barely even hurts—,” Leo reached out and grabbed April’s hand as it reached for his face. “Unless you touch it. But seriously. I’m fine.”

He was not fine. He had reduced balance and hearing. He was willing to go into a human hospital. And even if he really didn’t care, even if Donnie or Raph had bribed him to get treatment, she still wouldn’t believe that he was fine. She’d been around Leo too long for her not to notice when his movements were too stiff, and his smile slightly too wide.

Leo apparently knew her just as well.

“What's wrong?” He asked

“What's wrong?” April asked, cupping his head in her hands, careful to give space to his injuries. “Leo, this is my fault and I—”

“No it's not,” he said firmly.

“Yes it is,” she answered, just as firm. “I've stood side by side with you guys against some of the biggest threats ever. And yet, going on a little swim, I get scared. I get so scared I trap, not only myself but Cody as well, in a cave with no way to escape. And I—”

“No.” Leo’s smile had cracked, and she could feel his fear in his firm grip on her shoulder. “You made the right decision.”

“But—” 

“Breathe in.” 

Leo’s words were cut with the same firmness he used to tell his brothers ‘they had this’, but without the usual cocky grin. April didn as he asked.

“And out.” He said

April exhaled.

“If you can do that. You make the right choice.”

“Leo—” she started. 

“You made the right choice.” He repeated.

April sighed. “It sure doesn't feel like it.”

“Yeah, well, it's the truth.”

“How do you know?”

“Because—” Leo’s words caught in his throat. His gaze shifted from Cody shifting in his sleep to the blankets at his back. “Because I know. And once we get out of here, I can give you proof.”

Leo pulled her into a tight hug. April could feel wetness on her shoulder that had nothing to do with being trapped underwater.

“You did the right thing,” Leo whispered, not loosening his grip. “And I am so proud and so unbelievably happy that you did.”

She couldn’t help but to believe him.

The rest of decompression passed slowly. April didn’t mention the wetness of Leo’s eyes nor the occasional shuddering breath. He returned the favor. Neither of them slept. But Leo continued his embrace. And between that and her position of safety between him and Donnie. She can’t help but feel shielded from her doubts. 

At least for a while

That shield cracked when Raph and Sydney pulled Leo to the side the second they exited the chamber. They pulled his wetsuit off his arms, and revealed a thick bandage, soaked pink and red, on his forearm. 

She hadn’t even noticed.

Her shield shattered during the interview they had her give after. She had to walk through each of her decisions and actions in slow, agonizing detail.

Yes, she had asked Karen to come with them.

Yes, she had tried to insist.

They eventually stopped pressing her about it, but from the pained looks on their faces she knew what they were thinking

This scared girl almost got a second person trapped underwater.

Those thoughts stung. She wasn’t a scared little girl. She wasn’t someone who let fear get others hurt. She had fought the Shredder three times. She was brave.

And yet— 

If she hadn’t let fear win. She wouldn’t be seeing this pain in her mother’s eyes. And Cody would have been with Darius already, instead of stuck going through this observation and interview with her.


	4. Peace

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Raph is there for his family, even if he doesn't always know the best way to help them.

The door in front of Raph was wooden and unassuming, only adorned by several black plastic numbers. Those numbers matched the room that he was told April was in. The bustle of the doctors, nurses, and others in the hallway behind him fell away as he held his hand frozen above the door. 

He told himself that he hesitated because if he misremembered April’s room number he’d probably give someone’s grandparent a heart attack. That was the only reason, and not the fact that he had no idea what he was supposed to say or do when he entered the room.

But he couldn’t delay forever, because the door swung open before he could knock.

“See,” Mikey said, leading Ms. O’Neil out of the room, “Raph’ll be here while we take a walk.”

“Ok,” She said softly before pulling Raph into a tight hug. “Thank you.”

Raph held her until she let go. Even after she pulled away she lingered at the door. It took Mikey looping his arm around her shoulder and gently guiding her down the hall for her to leave. Raph watched until they turned a corner.

With a deep breath he slowly pushed open the door.

“Back already?” Donnie deadpanned. He was sitting cross legged on one of the rooms two beds. His phone was in his hands, the hospital gown folded neatly at the foot of the bed. 

“No,” April said from her own bed. She was wearing the hospital gown and sitting, her legs covered by the bed’s sheets. “It’s Raph.”

Donnie’s head snapped up. He looked past Raph, shifting several times before frowning.

“Where’s Leo?” He asked.

Raph rubbed the back of his neck. “He sent me away. Said I didn’t need to be there while they waited for his arm to numb.”

“That doesn’t sound like Leo,” Donnie said, eyes narrowed.

“I know, but—”

“And numbing his arm?” Donnie pushed himself off of his bed. His full attention was on Raph. “Now he’s going to be down an arm, his hearing, and his balance.”

“I know.”

“You need to go back there.” Donnie said harshly.

“I know.”

Donnie stepped into Raph’s personal space. “Then why are you here?”

“Because he threatened to teleport.” Raph said, holding his ground. “And he needs to stay there in order to get the stitches that he needs.”

“What happened to his arm?” April asked softly, hospital sheets twisted in her grip. “I saw the bandages as we left but he never—”

Donnie slumped, sitting on the edge of April’s bed. “He didn’t mention anything to me either.”

“It’s why he took so long to come back the first time after clearing—” Raph cut off his explanation. He couldn’t just call April’s friend an obstacle or a body. But bringing up his name, bringing up that pain— Raph pushed ahead and hoped neither had caught his slip. “We had to get it at least bandaged.”

Donnie stiffened. He didn’t press Raph, and instead returned his attention to his phone.

April was not so easily distracted. 

“After clearing what Raph?” She asked. “What happened?”

Raph looked away. 

“It was Zach,'' he said quietly.

“Zach hurt him?” April hissed, her voice taking a dangerous edge. “When I see him again, I’ll kill him. I can’t—”

Raph pulled her into a hug. The reason Leo threatened to teleport and find April himself if Raph didn’t go was now crystal clear.

“No one told you what happened?” He said very softly.

April pushed away. “They don’t need to. I was there.”

“April,” Raph said, soft and slow as he searched for the words to explain everything. “The thing is, this type of diving is extremely dangerous—”

“That’s the thing, Raph, it wasn’t. Why else would Darius bring his little brother along? That dive was just a simple excursion.” April squeezed her eyes closed, inhaling sharply through her teeth. “One I messed up because I got scared. I made a mistake. A big, cowardly, costly mistake. I know that and you don’t need to beat around the bush.”

“Going back to that air pocket was not a mistake.” Raph said firmly.

“You sound like Leo,” April said with a humorless laugh. “Which doesn’t help your credibility, as he didn’t even bother to mention that he was attacked by one of my so-called friends.”

Raph placed both hands on April’s shoulders.

“Zach didn’t attack Leo,” He said. “Leo cut himself teleporting him out of that tunnel.”

April blinked. “He got stuck again?”

“Not again.”

“ No, he got stuck when we were leaving,” she explained, and Raph’s stomach dropped. “So if he also got stuck when you were going in, he got stuck  _ again. _ ”

“Unless...”

“Unless what?”

“Unless he didn’t get unstuck.” Raph said, forcing the words out.

“He had to get unstuck.” April explained, “the tanks weren’t—”

“I know.”

“But... If he was still—,” April pulled away looking Raph in the eye. “How’d Darius and Karen get out?”

Raph looked away. “They didn’t.”

“They had to. If they didn’t how’d you guys even know to come.”

Donnie stopped messing with his phone. “Your mom called me.”

“I know that,” April said quickly, too quickly. “But how’d you know where we were diving if they— if—”

“I traced your phone,” Donnie said slowly. “Then read your messages.”

Donnie had the decency to look abashed about that invasion of privacy. April didn’t notice. She buried her face into Raph’s shoulder. Raph enveloped her in his embrace, rocking slowly back and forth.

He held her as she gripped his arms desperately. He held her as her entire body shook with sobs. He held her as her body calmed and her forehead rested against his plastron.

“I didn’t see the entire cave,” she said softly, her voice shaking. “Maybe Karen and Darius found a different air pocket?”

“No,” Raph said gravely.

“But how do you know?” April said, leaning away to look at Raph. “They could still be—”

“They aren’t. ”

“But, how do you—” April snapped her jaw shut. Her entire body stiffened as she pulled her hands to her mouth. 

Raph knew, without a doubt, that she had just connected the blankets in the pressure chamber with her missing friends.

Raph pulled her into another hug.

“You did the right thing, April,” He said, rocking slowly. 

“I don’t get it,” she said, voice shaking, “Darius was experienced.”

Raph didn’t know what to say. Donnie filled in the silence.

“Even experienced divers can get fixated and lose track of their air.”

Raph nodded. “You kept your cool. You saved not only your own life but Cody’s as well.”

“But if I had insisted more. If I—”

“You tried,” Donnie said, releasing his phone and moving next to her, worming his own arms into Raph’s embrace so that he was also hugging her. “But I saw your tanks. You and Cody barely made it to the air pocket. If you had tried harder, insisted more— none of you would have made it.”

“I’m so sorry. This whole situation is awful. But you did the best you could, the best anyone could.” Raph tightened his hug. “And I’m so glad that you’re here.”

“Yeah, what he said.” Donnie said.

Donnie remained in the embrace longer than Raph expected, but he still pulled away first, returning to his phone. He did not, however, return to his own bed, opting instead to stay near April and Raph. 

Raph didn’t make a move to release April. He knew it was, perhaps, a bit selfish. But when Leo had returned with the other two, Raph had prepared for the worst. He wasn’t sure he’d ever get to hold his friend, his sister, again. At least not until Cody named her as the other person trapped with him. 

Karen’s parents fled the room. Cody’s parents maintained their outward smiles, but the joy that built them shattered. Ms. O’Neil collapsed into Mikey’s arms. And Raph— he felt his excitement hollowed out by fear. He could see his little brothers in Cody’s eyes, and he could imagine their anguish if they discovered who was under the sheets. Cody never did. And now Raph could only hope that his parents were there for him as they broke the news.

Raph could understand why Darius did what he did. He could understand the desire to protect someone he was responsible for, to get his little brother to safety no matter the consequences. He could only hope that if he was ever in a similar situation, there would be someone like April to keep his little brothers safe.

April pulled herself against Raph, her entire body shaking. Raph tightened his embrace.

He ignored the buzz of his phone and the cramp in his shoulders. He ignored the tick of the clock and the thing on his phone that Donnie tried to show him. 

Right now, all that mattered was the way that April’s shuddering breaths slowly calmed, the way her tense muscles relaxed. 

She leaned against him and he held her.

He held her until the room door opened and she pushed away.

“Oh sweetheart,” her mom whispered.

Raph relinquished his spot next to April. Her mom pulled her into another embrace.

As he stepped away, Donnie grabbed his wrist.

“I’m texting you our insurance details.”

“We don’t have—”

“Now we do,” Donnie said flatly.

Raph raised an eye ridge.

“From a company that’s got a reputation, and a CEO that takes millions in bonuses.” Donnie stared down Raph. When Raph didn’t fight him, Donnie continued. “Just make sure Leo gets the memo.”

"Right."

Raph pulled his phone out, and noted the five missed texts. 

One was from Donnie with insurance and credit card information. Raph would ask about where he got the latter later. Once they were all home and safe.

The other four texts were from Leo. 

The first was a slightly blurry photo, the thin black stitches poking through the skin of his arm made Raph's own skin crawl. However it was reliving to see that Leo had kept his promise.

The next text was _'waiting for ear doc'_ followed shortly by _'with ear doc'_. That was good, Sydney had promised that they'd be prepared for his arrival.

The last text,  _ 'waiting for ear specialist' _ , was not what Raph wanted to see. Especially given that that text was almost fifteen minutes old with no update.

_'still waiting?'_ Raph texted.

_ 'yea' _

Leo's reply was almost instantaneous. Which meant he had his phone in his hand, so he was either bored or nervous.

Last time he was bored he helped himself to poisoned pizza puffs. And last time he was nervous, he cut that worm dude in half.

“I’m gonna go check on Leo.” Raph said softly.

Mikey nodded to him from his position next to Ms. O’Neil and April.

Donnie shooed him off.

And Raph found himself wandering the halls of the hospital again. He was used to exploring New York in dark and unmarked sewers. So he had no idea how the bright lights and signs made him feel like he was continually walking in the wrong direction. 

He backtracked and found the receptionist that had given him April’s room number. She was as unruffled about his whole situation as the woman whose baby loved memes. So he knew she would be the best bet for help. 

Following her directions he soon arrived at the ear nose and throat waiting room.

The room was in the shape of an L, with chairs along the walls and facing each other to make several isolated waiting areas. Raph’s scan for Leo was cut short when a man in scrubs at a door across the room spoke.

“Last call for Leonardo.”

Raph hurried forward.

“That’s my brother,” He said loudly as the man started to turn, “he should be here.”

“Should,” the man said impatiently, “but isn’t.”

“Give me just one moment and I’ll—” Raph ignored the man’s exasperated sigh and fished out his phone.

‘ _where r u’_

‘ _still waiting’_

‘ _time to go in’_

Raph didn’t get a response. But he saw Leo emerge from around the corner of the room, one hand out just barely passing over the tops of the chairs.

“Come on,” the man said briskly as Leo approached. 

He turned sharply and walked through the door. Without looking back, he led Raph and Leo down two hallways and into a room with a large black chair in the center. 

“Wait here,” he said. And before either brother could respond he had left, closing the door behind him.

Leo sat in the room’s central chair. Raph remained standing in front of him.

“You promised that you’d do this.” Raph said, doing his best to keep his disappointment out of his voice.

It didn’t work and Leo crossed both arms in front of his plastron. “I am.”

Raph sighed. “Doing this involves going to all, not most, appointments.”

“I am, Raph,” Leo said sharply. “They brought me in, then Dr. Dome decided that she didn’t have enough information about this whole situation and called in a consult. So they brought me back out to wait until they arrived.”

“Oh,” Raph said blinking, “you didn’t—”

“No,” Leo cut him off, eyes narrowed and arms pulled in tighter. “I didn’t need you to get me in here. It could be a while till their consult arrives, and I don’t need to be in the way disturbing their patients.” 

The last part of that statement was spoken under Leo’s breath. But before Raph could question who had been speaking to Leo like that, Leo continued.

“Besides you were supposed to be with April,” he accused.

“I was,” Raph defended. “I talked with her. She’s doing— She’s with Mikey and Donnie and her mom. And— and she knows.”

“Does she still...” 

“I don’t know,” Raph said. “I think her mind knows that she made the right choice. But I think it might take longer for her heart to realize it.”

“I get that,” Leo said softly.

Before Raph could press him on that statement there was a knock on the door and a man and woman entered. 

“Hi Leo,” The woman said, gesturing at the man, “this is Dr. Longe, he’ll be consulting today.”

Leo gave the man in maroon scrubs a short nod and tense smile. Dr. Longe returned the gesture with a genuine smile. 

The woman then turned to Raph. She held out her hand.

“And you must be his—”

“Brother,” Raph supplied, taking her hand. “Raphael.”

“Ananda Dome,” she said, “You can take a seat if you want.”

She pointed towards a small metal and plastic chair against the wall. Raph went to it, but hesitated before sitting. It wasn’t deep enough to accommodate his shell, so he gingerly sat on it sideways and turned his head to keep an eye on Leo and the doctors.

Dr. Dome directed her attention to Leo, stepping on a lever to recline the chair he was in. Once he was lying back, she gently turned his head so that the overhead light shone on his left ear’s injury. 

Raph mostly tuned out Dr. Dome’s and Dr. Longe’s conversation on ear anatomy and antibiotics. However, when Dr. Longe turned to get a better look at Leo’s head, Raph could see the small bird and lizard embroidered over his clinic name on his scrubs. 

His veterinary clinic. 

Raph shifted his attention to Leo. He was laying still, eyes closed, one hand holding his other wrist, just below the bottom of his bandages. 

Raph was impressed by how calm Leo was being. Even when Dr. Dome pulled out a syringe with a very thin and very long needle attached, he didn’t flinch. 

At least not until she inserted the needle past the injury and started injecting. Raph heard the hiss of air, that meant Leo desperately wanted to retreat into his shell. He did not get the chance as Dr. Longe caught his jaw in his hands and held him steady until Dr. Dome was finished.

“One ear done,” she said patting his shoulder. “Just stay still while that absorbs, and we’ll be back for the other ear in a few minutes.”

Leo remained still and she turned away. She opened the door for Dr. Longe and then paused before exiting herself.

“He did great,” she said to Raph.

“That’s good,” Raph answered with a shaky smile.

However the second she left the room Leo was determined to prove her wrong. He was using his arms to lift himself out of the chair.

Raph was on him in a second. With one hand he pushed Leo back into the chair. With the other he held Leo’s head still.

“Whoa, easy easy,” Raph said, waiting until Leo focused his half lidded eyes on him before continuing. “Doc said she wanted you to stay still while the medicine absorbs.”

“How long?” Leo mumbled.

“A few minutes,” Raph said. “And then a few more for your other ear.”

“Again?” Leo’s voice broke, shaking in a way Raph hadn’t heard since— 

Since they found their first skateboard. 

And Leo had experienced his first wipeout on an unmaintained ramp. In his memory the splinter buried in Leo’s leg was a foot long. But Raph knew it probably only felt that big, since Raph was so small then. He was so small that he couldn’t even carry one brother. Leo had to walk the entire way home trying not to drive the splinter in farther.

Leo had used  _ that  _ tone every couple of feet to ask  ‘ _ how much further’ _ . 

Raph wasn’t supposed to hear that tone ever again, not since he had gotten big and strong enough to carry all his brothers at once.

But here he was, unable to carry his brother in the way he needed.

Up close he could see how thin the veneer of calm was on Leo. Every muscle in his body was taught. His shell rocked against the hardback of the chair, his hand trembled as it squeezed his other wrist.

Raph offered Leo his hand. Leo released his arm and latched onto Raph’s hand instead. Raph could feel the frantic strength in his grip. He could see the pale indents on Leo’s arm, slowly fading remnants of his panic.

He might not be able to carry Leo through this, but he could lend him his hand.

And it worked. Between Leo’s death grip on his hand. And the slow shaky breaths he was taking his limbs seemed to grow. Not by much, but enough to let Raph know that Leo had been fighting his instinct to withdraw into his shell. And that he had been slowly losing.

He was still far too tense when a knock sounded at the door and the doctors returned. Dr. Dome was holding another long needle.

Despite how much he didn’t want to, Raph stepped back. 

Leo did not let go of his hand. 

Dr. Dome touched Raph’s shoulder.

“You can stay,” she said.

Raph returned to Leo’s side. He placed his free hand under Leo’s head. Both to allow him to relax into a position where he didn’t constantly have to fight to keep his balance on a rocking shell, and to prevent him from pulling his head in too far.

He could tell by Leo’s shallow breathing that withdrawing was not off the table. And while he might not be able to completely retract like Mikey, he could lower his head and raise his shoulders enough to completely block his ears.

Raph didn’t blame him. Up close that needle looked giant. 

“Do we have to do this?” Raph asked, not taking his eyes off the needle.

“I know the high gage is more uncomfortable,” she said softly, “But I don’t want to open another hole if I don’t have to.”

“Yeah, but does he need it in the first place?”

Dr. Dome looked at Dr. Longe.

“I highly recommend it.” Dr. Longe said. I’ve treated a number of res— of patients for aural abscess. One little lady has swelling the size of a grape.” 

Raph noticed the hand he held by his ear to indicate size was much larger than a grape. It was, however, proportional to the size that a grape would be if his head was the size of a pet red eared slider’s. Raph appreciated the effort to not broadcast the fact that Dr. Dome had brought in a vet to treat Leo. 

“We had to—” Dr. Longe stopped and grimaced. “We lost her. The infection spread to her skull and...”

Raph whimpered.

“And you don’t need to worry.” He said quickly. “If we catch it early it’s an easy surgery with a very high rate of success. And it’s way easier to catch when the patient can communicate that something’s wrong.”

Dr. Longe’s last line made a pit form in Raph’s stomach. Leo was very good at not letting them know something was wrong. Just because he could talk about his pain didn’t mean that he would.

“But the best outcome for preserving his hearing is to prevent infection from setting in.” Dr. Dome said.

“Ok,” Raph said softly, tapping Leo’s cheek to get his attention. “You ready buddy?”

Leo nodded once and squeezed his eyes shut.

Dr. Dome carefully threaded the needle through Leo’s injury. Leo didn’t flinch until she started depressing the syringe.

Raph could hear the hiss of air from Leo’s mouth. He could feel his hand, still latched onto Raph’s pull towards his shell. He could see tears form at the edges of Leo’s eyes.

But Leo’s head remained still.

It remained tensely locked into place long after Dr. Dome withdrew the needle.

It wasn’t until after both doctors left the room again that he cracked open his eyes.

Raph grinned at him. “You did great, buddy.”

Leo didn’t respond, but he didn’t squeeze his eyes shut again either. 

Raph rubbed his thumb against Leo’s temple. He could see Leo’s shoulders lower inch by inch, as he leaned into Raph’s hand.

Leo exhaled slowly. His desperate grip on Raph’s hand loosening. When it was loose enough Raph started rubbing that hand in time with his temple. 

Leo let out a slow sigh.

The door slammed open. 

“Time to go.”

Leo’s desperate grip returned.

Raph frowned at the newest arrival. Not strictly new, it was the same man that thought just shouting for a turtle with injured eardrums would be sufficient to get his attention. 

“Just give us a minute,” Raph grumbled.

Leo looked between the two of them, yanking his hand off of Raph’s without releasing his grip.

“No need.” Leo said. He pushed himself off the chair, but before he could fully stand he pitched violently to the side.

Raph caught him before he fell. Raph also caught a glimpse of the man rolling his eyes.

Raph glared at him. But the rude words he so desperately wanted to give him died on his tongue. 

Logically Raph knew that they were completely surrounded. If he got in a fight, if he gave the humans nearby any reason not to trust them— That could end badly. Not just for him but for his brothers who were, at the moment, much less able to defend themselves.

But the logical reason wasn’t what kept Raph from doing something rash. The simple fact was if he was to go confront the man, he’d have to leave Leo’s side. And Leo wasn’t stable on his feet.

“His balance is worse,” Raph said as calmly as he could. “I want to talk to the doctor.”

“Slight lightheadedness is expected after that procedure.” The man answered in a clipped tone. “She’ll tell you the same thing.”

“I don’t think this is slight.”

“Yeah, well, how he chooses to act isn’t something we can control.” The man said flatly.

Raph’s stomach dropped. He could feel every muscle in his body tensing for a fight. 

“He’s right,” Leo said, pulling Raph’s attention away from the man, “I’m fine.”

Leo didn’t look or sound fine but he had at least gotten his feet back under him. He pulled away from Raph, taking small wobbly steps. 

Raph had a choice. He could either rush after his brother and make sure his arms were there when Leo pitched to the side, or he could confront the man. The choice was easy.

Raph followed Leo, his hands hovering on either side of him, waiting for the moment that they were needed.

It wasn't until after Raph had handled the checkout, and they left the office, that his support was needed. When Leo sagged to his side, Raph was able to support him easily.

“Can we go home now?” Leo asked softly.

“They’ve sent your prescription to the pharmacy downstairs, we just need to—” Raph stopped talking when he saw Leo’s face fall. Leo didn’t need to be there for that. “Your swords are in the tank if you want to—” 

There was a flash of blue light. 

Leo tipped violently to the side. Raph held him, and Leo went limp in his arms.

Raph took a second to note his surroundings. They were in the turtle tank. Pillows and blankets were at their feet. Mikey must have placed them there when he put the swords in the tank. It was a good call.

Raph gently lowered Leo to the ground. 

He made sure Leo’s head was well supported before covering him with the thickest blanket.

It was several long minutes before Leo opened his eyes and looked at him.

“You alright buddy?” Raph asked.

“’m fine.”

Raph frowned, Leo’s voice was so hollow. 

“I’m so sorry about how they— how that guy treated you,” Raph said.

Leo shrugged. “It’s fine.”

“No it’s not. It’s— You were a hero today, Leo,” Raph smiled at Leo. Leo did not return the gesture, so Raph pulled out his secret weapon. “Our champion.” 

“I wasn’t.”

Raph reached out to Leo. Leo pulled away.

“A hero doesn’t think more about getting himself out than getting back to help people,” Leo said bitterly.

“I— Did we just go through the same day?” Raph asked incredulously. “You were determined to get back and help, screw personal safety.” 

“Yeah but that was too late. Thirty minutes. That’s the difference between a breathing human and a dead one.”

“Leo, you couldn’t have gotten to them any faster.”

“Yes I could.” Leo hissed. “But I gave Mikey my swords. Both of them. So I was sure I could get out. But...” 

But after he got out he couldn’t return to where he had left. He had to swim through that narrow section of tunnel a second time. Still, even if he had overlooked one thing— 

“It’s not your fault,” Raph said, pulling him into a hug that Leo didn’t return.

Raph pulled back, catching Leo’s eyes.

“You know that right?” Raph questioned. “None of us expected it to be that deep. And I’m sure you thought you could navigate better without your sword.

Leo made a soft non-committal hum.

Raph pulled him back into a hug. Leo rested heavily against his brother but did not return the embrace. 

Raph took a breath and laid Leo back down. He texted Mikey, sending him instructions for getting Leo’s prescription and helping Don check out. 

Raph would do it himself but— 

Leo was too quiet. If he’d finally fallen asleep that would be one thing. But he wasn’t asleep. He was staring vacantly at the tank’s riveting. 

When Leo had his breakdown in the hyperbaric chamber, Raph had convinced himself that it was the thick metal walls that make him helpless. If he was able to sit near Leo, to hug him and rest his hand on Leo's shell, then he could force things to be alright again. 

But now, sitting so close to Leo, he still felt so far away. Raph realized he was just as helpless now as he had been before.

Still, he stayed by Leo’s side until Donnie and Mikey arrived at the tank. Then he let Mikey take over ‘sit with Leo’ duty. Mikey had also had a frontrow seat to Leo’s breakdown in the chamber. And he hoped that Mikey could do what he couldn’t.

Mikey tried. Mikey tried three times. But Leo didn’t respond to him, and Mikey stopped trying. He sat with Leo in silence, hand resting on Leo’s shell, for the rest of the drive home. Raph wished they could just force Leo to talk to them, force him to feel better. But he knew that trying to force Leo to talk would only make him shut down more.

The lair was just as quiet as the tank. Raph helped Leo to his room. He hoped that even if Leo wouldn’t talk to them, he’d at least be able to sleep. But the pale blue light of Leo’s phone in the dark room let Raph know that his hope was in vain.

From his position at the threshold of Leo's room, Raph could smell some of Mikey’s culinary creations from the kitchen. He could also hear the soft clang of metal from Donnie’s lab. He knew both of his brothers would get some rest when they finished with their projects. He knew Mikey’s cooking would take an hour or two at most, and would end with a well fed Mikey.

He knew Donnie’s project could last for days or weeks.

The choice was simple. Raph knocked when he reached the lab's entrance.

“Hey D—”

“Can it wait until after I’m done.” Donnie said, not looking up from the panic button disassembled on his workbench. “I’ve got to improve the waterproofing of these to deal with greater depths and increase the signal strength to penetrate several tons of rock. I also need to add two way communication and passive environmental warnings and—”

“And you’ve had a long day,” Raph said, entering the lab. “Maybe take a break first?”

Donnie shook his head. “All I did today was have a relaxing swim followed by a nap. I don’t need a break.”

Raph allowed himself a small chuckle. “I’m pretty sure your day was a little more stressful than that.”

Donnie looked up at Raph, eyes narrowed. “That’s the thing. It wasn’t. April spent half a day trapped and had several friends die. Leo got hurt and apparently had to deal with multiple dead bodies. You and Mikey ran interference with all the humans that showed up. And I— I didn’t do anything.”

“You saved Leo’s life—”

“I put it in danger,” Donnie snapped, slamming his hands on the workbench. “If I had thought ahead for just one second and warned him of the potential pressure differences. Or even better if I just had a bit more patience and waited for him to get back.”

“Don, that’s not your fault.”

Donnie gave Raph the same look he saved for when any of his brothers said something particularly unfounded in scientific fact.

“I’m serious,” Raph continued. “I forced him to stay so long after that jump. And the diver that we were planning the rescue with, she could have also warned Leo about the pressure in a jump. But she didn’t, because no one thought the lake would be that deep.”

“I did, because I was the one actively descending at that time, remember?”

Raph sighed. “And April should have never gone cave diving and Leo should have brought his sword. But one mistake doesn’t erase the good that they did. That you did.”

“I’m sorry.” Donnie said, pushing his goggles up to look directly at Raph. “What’s this about Leo and his swords?”

“If he had brought his sword with him when he first explored the cave you both could have saved thirty or so minutes in the rescue. Maybe getting to April’s friends before they...”

“That’s stupid.” Donnie said flatly. “Don’t say that again, especially not to Leo.”

Raph threw his hands up. “I didn’t. I’m just— That’s what Leo told me.”

“Well tell him to stop being a dumb-dumb. Those kids were dead before April’s mom even called us. Which is why I need to incorporate an early warning signal into—”

“You tell him.”

Donnie frowned. “Don’t try to make me feel useful Raph. It doesn’t actually help.”

“I’m serious.”

“If you were serious you’d get Mikey to tell him, or you’d tell him yourself. We all know that you’re much better at it than me.” Donnie focused on the wires bending out of shape as he roughly slid his thumb across them.

“And that’s probably why Leo’s not believing a word we say,” Raph said, putting a hand over Donnie’s. “But he knows that you’re not going to lie to him about facts to make him feel better. And even if that doesn’t get though, the fact that you were also there, might.”

Donnie stared down at his workbench. “If you really think I can help.”

“Yes I do,” Raph said, placing a hand on Donnie’s shoulder. “Your insights already helped April.”

Donnie pushed away from his workbench. 

Raph followed Donnie out of his lab. He stayed by the entrance of Leo’s room while Donnie entered and got Leo’s attention with a hand on his shoulder. 

When he saw Leo put his phone away, he left the room. It was fine that Leo wasn’t opening up to him, as long as he was opening up. 

It wasn’t a rejection. It was just that he couldn’t help Leo in the way that he needed.

Raph found himself in the kitchen. He sat heavily at the center island, head in his hands.

The scrap of ceramic caught his attention. A bowl of hot soup was slid in front of him. He looked up and smiled at Mikey.

"Thank you," he said, "this smells delicious."

Mikey smiled. "Don't tell me if it tastes bad, I've already sent Dad with a large pot to April and her mom."

"Is she still at the hospital?"

"No, she was released. They should be getting home soon."

"That's good," Raph said. He took a spoonful of the soup. It tasted like the soup their Dad used to make when they were young and had spent the entire day playing in fresh fallen snow. Raph took another spoonful. "Mikey this is amazing, they’re going to love it."

"I hope so."

"They are. It was a very thoughtful gesture."

"I wish I could do more," Mikey said softly.

Raph held Mikey's hand. "You did plenty Mikey. You were there for Ms. O'Neil when we didn't know. You acted as a buffer when April needed a break. And you took the initiative to make their return home a bit less stressful."

Mikey smirked at Raph. "You know you did plenty too, right?"

"Mikey..."

"It's Dr. Feelings now, that's how you know that I'm serious."

Raph sighed. "I still wish I was able to enter that tunnel, to actually help the rescue."

"So do I," Mikey said softly.

Raph's argument died on his tongue. Any words he could say against himself would also invalidate what he just said to Mikey. And he knew how much Mikey did.

Mikey grinned at his silence. "You did a lot of good today. You got that rescue team on our side. You were there for Leo each time he teleported. And you were there for all of us at the hospital."

Raph leaned into the hug that Mikey gave him.

"Come on Mike, why don't you sit down and have some soup too."

Mikey pulled away, "I will, I just want to give Leo and Don theirs first."

"I'll go with you," Raph said, standing up.

He carried both bowls for Mikey. However Mikey froze when he entered the threshold of Leo's room.

Both Leo and Donnie were asleep in a two turtle pile on top of Leo's bed. Donnie's arm was flung over Leo's shell as he leaned against the wall, head just barely below Leo's shelves. Leo laid on his plastron, pressed against Donnie's side, his arm resting on Donnie's knees.

"The soup should taste just as good cold right?" Mikey whispered.

"Yeah," Raph said, carefully backing out of the room, "let's let them sleep."

A little sleep wouldn't cure everything, but it forcibly reminded Raph that they could heal.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to thank everyone that took the time to kudo and leave such nice comments. This fic pushed my typical writing wheelhouse and it meant the world to me to have such nice feedback. Nerdyperson, HoshiSoul, jadethestone, Windona, Fictionalfoxu, and ShybutMighty, thank you all so much. Believe me I smiled at each and every comment that you all left. They made my day and my night, and I just don't have the words to describe how happy I am that you all enjoyed the story. I hope that you enjoyed the final chapter just as much.


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